Police to report on wanted crooks
Veronica Mohapeloa
26 August 2004
Cabinet is expected to receive a report next week on progress regarding the arrest of the most wanted criminals in the country.
In his State of the Nation Address in April, President Thabo Mbeki said that government would ensure that the 200 most wanted criminals would be arrested by August.
Addressing the media in Cape Town on Wednesday, Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula said the elite Scorpions unit and the police would submit the report.
He said at the same time that significant strides have been made regarding the various categories of crime in the past three months.
"This includes the arrest of 70 criminals involved in cash-in-transit and bank robberies. Some of these criminals have been killed in shootouts with the police."
Nqakula said the police had foiled two cash-in-transit heists two weeks ago, underlining their commitment to curb the scourge of such violent crimes.
This was pulled off in two
separate operations after the police had received tip-offs, leaving three suspects fatally wounded.
Nqakula also said the South African Police Service would table the annual report on crime statistics in next month.
"The report will indicate the reasons for the good measures of comfort we have following the successful implementation of our integrated law enforcement strategies," he said, adding that his department had set itself targets to reduce crime across the country.
He said the first draft on the socio-economic crime profiling the 63 contact crime areas had been finalised and it included areas where crime was rife.
Nqakula said efforts to ensure better control of illegal firearms and ownership through the Firearms Control Act of 2000 would continue.
Since the beginning of this year, thousands of guns had been confiscated and that 45 427 guns were destroyed countywide.
However, there were still high levels of firearms reported lost or
stolen, the minister said.
"A total of 10 975 guns were reported lost or stolen between January 2004 to the end of July."
To date, the department had considered a total of 44 432 firearms licence applications.
However, compliance with the Firearms Control Act, requirements of approved competency tests and strict control of legally possessed firearms was maintained.
The minister said provisions of the legislation as well as decisions made by the courts necessitated a more intense evaluation of firearm licence applications.
Regarding organised crime, he said in the first six months of this year, 88 such syndicates had been neutralised, with 490 members arrested.
He said goods seized was valued at R100-million.
The police were also focusing intelligence on 12 other syndicates while an intricate web of national and international links had been uncovered in the lucrative abalone smuggling that was depleting the country's
resources.
Source: BuaNews
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