Africa-Press – South-Africa. National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has only been in the hot seat for over four months, but he is already feeling the immense weight of expectation from South Africans living in fear following a spate of violent crimes, including a string of mass shootings.
Hoping to restore some calm and possibly instil greater belief in the South African Police Service (SAPS), Masemola, flanked by Police Minister Bheki Cele, Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya and other senior crime-fighters, announced improved plans to fight violent crimes.
While the plans Masemola announced seemed to echo basic policing principles, he pointed to greater alignment of police resources to periods when crime spikes (usually between Friday and Monday).
He said station commanders would incorporate trends analysis into the structuring of their duties and resources.
Masemola said the SAPS would focus on tighter policing of liquor and gun laws, while all provinces would increase the frequency of visible policing operations, such as coordinated roadblocks and blitz operations.
Indicating that the police were already seeing results, Masemola noted that more than 22 000 people were arrested for crimes across the country during July.
ANC does not want to ‘interfere’ with investigations into ‘Rama-Phala Phala’
According to Masemola, a total of 22 320 people were arrested during July. Of those, 3 193 people were arrested for assault with the intention to do grievous bodily harm, 576 for murder, 360 attempted murder, 432 for rape and 177 for sexual offences.
He also announced that 1 173 illegal guns and over 7 700 rounds of live ammunition were confiscated last month.
Masemola’s briefing came just days after the horrific rape and robbery of eight women in Krugersdorp by gun-wielding men. Some of the victims were raped multiple times by different assailants.
Police swiftly arrested 82 people, all of whom have been charged with being in the country illegally. Some of the men arrested face charges related to the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.
At this stage, none of the men has been charged with rape.
Masemola also faced questions over the recent spate of mass shootings at taverns in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.
He said police didn’t believe the shootings were linked at this stage.
The police chief added that, where they had established motives for the shootings, it was related to extortion or drugs.
Masemola also said teams across the 18 districts were working on extortion-related crime.
Phala Phala
Meanwhile, Masemola confirmed that no criminal case was opened with the police following a theft at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm in Limpopo.
In June, former spy boss Arthur Fraser opened a kidnapping and money laundering case against Ramaphosa and the head of the presidential protection unit, Major-General Wally Rhoode.
Fraser accused Ramaphosa and Rhoode of concealing a burglary at the farm in February 2020.
He also alleged that at least $4 million in cash, which was hidden in a couch, was stolen. But, instead of reporting the matter to police through normal channels, a cover-up operation was conducted following an illegal investigation, according to Fraser.
Masemola said the investigation into the theft at Phala Phala was ongoing.
The commissioner said he had deposed an affidavit regarding the investigation.
While Masemola did not go into the details of his affidavit, he confirmed there was no record that a police case had been opened following the theft, but said he was sure Rhoode would explain himself.
Masemola also confirmed that Ramaphosa had reported the crime to Rhoode, who is a member of the South African Police Service.
“Like yourself, if you are home and there’s a break-in, you phone the police,” he said.
Lebeya said the investigation was still under way and 30 statements had already been obtained.
However, Lebeya said he would not go into what evidence was contained in the docket, but vowed that a thorough investigation would be conducted.
Masemola, however, appeared to put some distance between himself and the Phala Phala scandal, which included a report that he allegedly authorised the use of a police helicopter and a communication interception device, known as a grabber, to hunt for the individuals linked to the theft.
“For the record, I knew about Phala Phala from you guys, from the media. I knew it from you. That was the first time I heard there was a story about Phala Phala,” he said.
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