The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, General Khehla Sitole has hailed a first of its kind, two-day National Safer City Summit as a success.
The two-day gathering was held on 19-20 March 2019 in Pretoria under the theme “Together innovating sustainable safer city solutions”.
The Summit brought together 150 delegates comprising of senior leadership of the South African Police Service from all the nine provinces, the Junior National Commissioner and her Deputies, representatives from Metro Police Departments, other government departments, institutions of higher learning and police representatives and chiefs from Angola, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, among others.
Building on the 2016 White Paper on Safety and Security, the Summit created a platform for delegates to deliberate on safety as a collective responsibility across all sectors. It aims to develop a Safer City Model in line with the international crime prevention priorities; “The creation of safer cities, safer streets and reclaiming of public spaces”.
Delegates recommended that a technical team comprising of various stakeholders be appointed with a view of developing a National Safer City Framework followed by an implementation plan that will outline how this process will unfold.
This National Safer City Framework will be piloted in 10 cities being: Durban, Cape-Town, Johannesburg, Witbank, Port-Elizabeth, Rustenburg, Kimberley, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Polokwane.
The recently chosen Junior National Commissioner was also present and added her views of how the youth can also play a part in contributing to a safe and secure South Africa.
“This Summit will serve as a building block in bringing us closer to the shared vision of a safer South Africa for all. Going forward, we expect a Summit report in 14 days and in 21 days we expect the first of its kind National Safer City Framework to be in place detailing key objectives. Integration and Collaboration by all stakeholders is key in making this framework a success”, said General Sitole.
“This is a concept that is going to revolutionise policing. We will be able to speedily identify root causes of crime and modus operandi and thereafter be able to decisively deal with crime through a multi-disciplinary and collaborative approach with all stakeholders involved”, concluded General Sitole.
