President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced plans to improve policing in South Africa – with a focus on improved police visibility, and training of police officers.<\/p>\n
In delivering his State of the Nation Address, the president said that the country’s goals of drawing investment and boosting growth require a safe, stable and crime-free environment.<\/p>\n
“More importantly, it is fundamental to the aspirations of all our people to live in security, peace and comfort,” he said.<\/p>\n
To achieve this, he said that police visibility, effective training and better resourcing of police stations are government’s priorities.<\/p>\n
“I have prioritised our response to the growing problem of criminal groups that extort money from construction and other businesses.<\/p>\n
“Specialised units \u2013 bringing together SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority \u2013 are mandated to combat these crimes of economic disruption,” he said<\/p>\n
To support the growth of the tourism industry, the SAPS will increase visibility at identified tourist attraction sites.<\/p>\n
Government is also training Tourism Safety Monitors and will establish a reserve police capacity to focus on the policing of tourist attraction areas, he said.<\/p>\n
The president noted that, following the graduation of 5,000 police trainees last year, 7,000 new police trainees have been enlisted this year to strengthen local policing.<\/p>\n
To improve the quality of general and specialised SAPS investigations, government is establishing a Crime Detection University in Hammanskraal, north of Pretoria, he said.<\/p>\n