The Minister of Police, honourable Bheki Cele, has called on young people to channel their energy into building a prosperous South Africa by working with the police in the fight against crime, substance abuse, drugs, and finding solutions regarding school and campus safety, gender-based violence and cybercrime.

“A lot of emphasis has been directed to a girl child and this we applaud, but the time has come to shift the focus to a boy child. Our boys need to understand that they are not superior to girls and that can help reduce the gender-based violence in the society,” said Minister Cele referring to the escalating number of reported cases of gender-based violence.


 

“It cannot be right that boys see it as normal to perpetuate crimes against the vulnerable. It is about time that violence against women and children must stop. Given the identification of 2018/2019 as the year of prioritising crimes against women, children and the elderly as vulnerable groups, the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Investigation Service must ensure thorough investigation of their cases, which will lead to harsher punishment to perpetrators,” said the Minister.

The Minister was speaking at the second day of the SAPS’s National Youth Crime Summit where young people from various structures across the country have gathered to find amicable solutions to crimes perpetuated by the youth or against them.

With the words of the honourable President Ramaphosa of Thuma Mina, loosely translated as ‘send me’, I am sending you to engage with the SAPS leadership on key issues affecting the youth. Some of the issues raised here will be taken to other departments to provide solutions to the youth of this country.
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I am sending you to do the ground work and change South African communities into a conducive climate for economic and social stability in support of a better life for all.
 

In his address, the Minister made a clarion call to all junior provisional commissioners and youth structures to engage with the SAPS’s leadership including to create structures that will remind them of their responsibilities as leadership of youth.

“There must be programmes in the SAPS that will absorb the youth in the economic main stream,” said the Minister, who also touched on various issues including promotions within the SAPS.

The Minister also cautioned young women to leave violent relationships. “Once he raises a hand on you, turn away and never look back,” said Minister Cele.

Deputy Minister Mkongi called on the youth to also discuss international relationship issues rather than avoiding them. We must raise issues affecting our sovereignty without any fear. It cannot be correct that one area is dominated by illegal foreigners. We must discuss such issues and find solutions from sister departments, such as International Relations and Home Affairs,” he said..

Among issues raised by the Deputy Minister was protests that lead to burning and destruction of property, especially those affecting students.

Deputy Minister Mkongi called on the youth to protest peacefully and avoid destruction and burning of property that are meant to help them. He further cautioned them to avoid choosing leadership with ulterior motives, who does not contribute to the betterment of the country.

You cannot burn universities and expect the police to fold their arms and not act against such violent conduct. The student leadership must lead by example and be part of protests that are peaceful, away from violence and the destruction of property. Stop following leaders with no principles and rather join principled leadership,” said Mkongi.

Touching on issues affecting SAPS members, including boosting morale, Minister Cele said he is aware of the fact that the moral within the police, is low. “We have 66 000 overdue police promotions. I am happy that we have reached an agreement with the leadership of SAPS that in three years’ time, we should be done with all the promotions. This year, we have committed to promote 28 000 police officials.
 

We cannot create an organisation of frustration and must contribute to progress in the lives of our members,” said Minister Cele before pleading with the members in blue to stay away from corrupt activities, since the Anti-corruption Unit will not hesitate to arrest those that bring the organisation into disrepute.

I met a Constable at the airport who is been in the same position for 13 years and spoke to a Warrant Officer who also shared the frustration of being in the same position for 19 years. “We cannot create a police service that is stagnant,” he said

In dealing with issues of visibility in Gauteng, the Minister handed over more than 50 top of the range high performance vehicles to the Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Deliwe de Lange.

It is therefore befitting to give more resources to the police to tackle the challenges of crime, especially on our highways. I want to see blue lights on each off-ramp and onramp across Gauteng.

In line with government’s focus on the five key priorities, which include fighting crime, Minister Cele said government wants to make sure that the police does not have an excuse of not having cars or any other resources, when asked to assist the public.