Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa wants to withdraw men and women in blue from border patrols so they can focus on fighting crime in business and residential areas.

He believes the responsibility for border patrols should be returned to the SANDF, and that the army should provide escorts for cash-in-transit vans.

The government is also planning to recruit thousands of unemployed youths to help fight crime in their communities.

Mthethwa said the government might have to reverse the decision that led to responsibility for border patrols being switched to the police.

He said rampant crime could be dealt with only if more police were deployed in problem areas.

“The old cabinet said we have set a law that police should be at the border, and March was meant to be the last day for the army to withdraw. We are going to engage our colleagues on that … the challenge at home is the crime in business and residential areas.

“I would argue … why would you want to have borders manned by the police? And if you look at international trends, the job of securing the country is done by the army.”

Mthethwa would also like soldiers to escort cash-in-transit vans to deter crime syndicates.

“If you look at other countries, the issue of transporting money is a joint operation between security forces.”

A large percentage of trained soldiers were part of the reserve force and could be used for escorts.

Mthethwa said 10 000 more officers would be recruited each year.

“To crack (down) on murder and corruption, it means visibility ... if visible policing is working to deter crime, how do you balance (that) with the fact that the borders are manned by the police?

“You may want to release the police … to concentrate where it matters most. That’s (an) issue that needs to be looked into.”

The department’s change in name from safety and security to police symbolised the resolve to rid society of crime, Mthethwa said.

“We had our approach in the past which was rather not soft, but not very hard in a way.

“This (name) change symbolises our resolve to approach criminals as though we are at war with them … to rid our society of them.”

Speaking to a weekend newspaper, Mthethwa’s deputy, former ANC Youth League president Fikile Mbalula, said youths would receive basic training in self-defence and guarding and would be incorporated into Community Policing Forums. Their role would be to patrol streets and report any crime to police.