Asked specifically what the current state of rural security surveillance infrastructure is, South African Deputy President Paul Mashatile had to tell a Parliamentary questioner it had not yet reached “under-served rural areas where crime prevention and community safety are urgent priorities”.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) National Assembly (NA) parliamentarian Ntombovuyo Mente-Nkuna wanted Mashatile to elaborate on a “strategic plan”, including the roll-out of security surveillance infrastructure, apparently the responsibility of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cabinet cluster in remote rural areas.
Instead, she had to read about the JCPS “critical role” co-ordinating the national crime response, the “establishment” of electronic surveillance systems in metros and “identified hotspots” as well as the key’ private sector partners’ involvement where “a great deal of work still needs to be done” before reaching the non-answer to her question.
Mashatile’s reply has it electronic surveillance in metros such as Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, Johannesburg and Tshwane are – due to the current fiscal constraints impacting on government, as a whole – are not fully in place.
On the nub of Mente-Nkuna’s question, the Mashatile reply made public on 11 July, reads: “The focus will invariably shift to under-served rural areas where crime prevention and community safety are urgent priorities. However, this does not diminish the responsibility and the focus of the JCPS Cluster to improve safety and security in rural areas”.
The South African number two notes further in his reply the SA Police Service (SAPS) is currently implementing a comprehensive and inclusive rural safety strategy. This is, according to his reply, “in partnership with a broad range of stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, to address rural safety as an integrated day-to-day policing approach”.
The “over-arching goal is to ensure a safer environment for all, support food security and provide consistent integrated policing for all who live, work (permanently or temporarily), or visit rural areas”.
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