Africa-Press – South-Africa. Police Minister Bheki Cele says the SA Police Service (SAPS) is recruiting retired detectives “in good standing” to Crime Intelligence to increase its capacity to deal with crime.
The minister spoke in Parliament during the budget vote presentation of SAPS, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and the Department of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service on Tuesday.
Cele said the retired detectives would undergo a three-month training programme before formal recruitment.
He said Crime Intelligence and tackling cybercrime were among the key priority areas.
Among measures announced in the fight against crime, Cele said SAPS enrolled 10 000 police trainees for the 2023/24 financial year.
He said this would continue for the next two years.
Cele said the crime-fighting efforts also extended to communities where community policing forums (CPF) were the first point of call.
He said: “R70 million is allocated to the provinces to support community police forums in terms of resource requirements. This funding is assisting the CPFs with resources such as vehicles, laptops, torches, reflective jackets and other tools of the trade.”
Cele added that SAPS also spent R5 million towards community gatherings, awareness campaigns, summits and conferences.
DA MP Andrew Whitfield said the government had failed in its fight against crime.
He said by failing to mention the loss of experienced officers to mass resignations, the minister did not reflect the true state of SAPS.
Whitfield said:
Responding to the R70 million budget for CPFs, Whitfield said this was not enough and would not filter to every member despite them putting their lives on the line to protect their communities.
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