ONE thing that the Gauteng Provincial government has prioritised under Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s epoch is to intensify the fight against lawlessness and crime.

Fighting crime has been central to Lesufi’s priorities since he took over the reins.

As he stepped up to deliver the State of the Province Address earlier this week, it had become pretty much predictable that he would reflect on the various interventions that the provincial government continues to put in place to tackle the crime levels in the communities.

He had made bold announcements when he took over as the Premier on how he intends to make the province safe and secure for communities. Therefore, reflecting on the work that is being done made perfect sense. Lesufi has not taken his eyes off the ball.

Like many citizens of this province, crime rubs Lesufi up the wrong way. He does not mince words on these key issues, as they affect many lives. Crime has prevailed for far too long in the province, as he correctly points out. The annual Gauteng Citizens Perception Survey indicates that crime is among the top challenges facing the people of the province.

Riding on the mantra that Gauteng will not be able to realise full economic growth and development if the current crime levels persist, Lesufi has moved for a pragmatic approach, paying attention to detail.

Crime impacts the province’s ability as the economic hub of the country to effectively woo potential investors and grow businesses. Some businesses have gone belly up due to business robberies. And that cannot be good. The province is determined to use everything at its disposal to infiltrate the crime space.

Fighting crime in a province such as Gauteng is no small feat, Lesufi concedes. It is a mammoth task. That space has become very complex. It is against this backdrop that the provincial government has employed a more modern and dynamic approach to deal with this challenge.

The province has moved towards an intergovernmental and multi-sectoral approach, including private security companies. The adoption of the e-policing initiatives informed by various high-impact technologies to conduct policing and safety operations makes practical sense. These initiatives contribute to early crime detection and should go a long way in improving police efficiency.

To this end, 442 crime kingpins that are causing the worst crime in the different parts of the province have been identified.

“These 442 crime kingpins are responsible for cash-in-transit heists, kidnappings, rented murder, ATM bombings, blue-light gangs, and business robberies. Instead of waiting for them to commit crimes, we have put full-time surveillance around them and have already arrested 50,” Lesufi pointed out this week.

This is a result of the partnership between the private sector through Business Against Crime SA and the private security industry.

Critical to the new approach to dealing with crime is an integrated and coordinated work among the law enforcement agencies in the province. To give effect to this, the province is on the verge of signing a memorandum of cooperation with the SA Police Service (SAPS) and municipalities to allow for cross-border law enforcement operations.

The realisation is that working in isolation has not assisted in effectively tackling criminality.

The installation of CCTV cameras across the different communities should also go a long way in assisting the law enforcement agencies to monitor and deal with criminal activities. The introduction of the airwing to spot criminal activities and direct ground forces to where the suspects are hiding during law enforcement operations is an added advantage.

These interventions should go a long way towards reducing crime incidents in the different parts of the province. While it’s too early to start talking about the impact of these interventions in the communities, so far these efforts are backed up by statistical data.

The first and second quarters of the 2024/25 financial year crime statistics released by the SAPS showed a significant decline in the overall crime incidents in the province. Crime statistics for the second quarter presented in November last year reflected a 7.6 percent decline in the contact crimes, which include offences such as murder, attempted murder with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and aggravated robbery.

One thing is certain: there is a political will to tackle the scourge of crime in Gauteng Province. Lesufi is leading from the front. That has become an interesting space to watch.

* Morwane is the Director for Communication Services in the Gauteng Department of Community Safety. The views expressed are his own.

** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.

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