MEC Albert Fritz meets Minister Bheki Cele to address various policing needs and priorities

21 June 2019

The MEC for Community Safety in the Western Cape, Adv. Albert Fritz met with the National Minister of Police, Mr Bheki Cele on Tuesday, 18 June 2019 as part of the process to address the various policing needs and priorities within the Western Cape which gave rise to the declaration of an intergovernmental dispute by the Premier of the Western Cape, Mr Alan Winde.

The meeting was conducted in a cordial spirit of collaboration and cooperation. Both Minister Cele and MEC Fritz agreed that the task of building safer communities requires immediate and priority attention.

Minister Cele gave the assurance that the resourcing of police stations in the Western Cape is being addressed with no fewer than 1000 new police recruits, out of the 5000 currently receiving training at the SAPS Academy, that will be deployed in the Western Cape immediately after they have completed their training.

They also agreed that the complexities surrounding the equitable distribution of police resources, will be best addressed via a negotiated process aligned with the determination of a remedy to address the ruling of the Equality Court last year in the matter SJC and Another vs. the Minister of Police and Another.

Minister Cele also expressed his willingness to engage further on the proposals made by the Western Cape Government to alleviate the work of police and in particular the funding which was made available by the Western Cape Government in the amount of R5 million. Both parties agreed that this money should be invested for maximum impacts in the efforts by both governments to create safer communities.

Minister Cele highlighted the need for a whole of society approach for the eradication of crime and raised environmental design challenges, as one of the issues SAPS is unable to resolve by the additional allocation of resources alone.

MEC Fritz agreed that dialogue with interested stakeholders as to solutions was vital and both parties committed to follow-up dialogue sessions on a regular basis for this purpose.

On behalf of the entire Western Cape Government, MEC Fritz would like to express his gratitude for the cordial way in which the requested engagement with Minister Cele was conducted.

We now look forward to building a solid, constructive and productive relationship with Minister Cele and his team going forward with the aim of ensuring that the ongoing surge of crime in this Province is ended and every possible means is provided to assist the South African Police Service in achieving this goal.

Issued by Cayla Ann Tomás Murray, Spokesperson for MEC Albert Fritz, 21 June 2019