SAPS, City officers ‘ready’ for festive season safety
“We are ready this festive season”, said Robbie Roberts, director of Law Enforcement in the City of Cape Town at a joint safety parade in the city centre on Friday.
The event included the 876 cadets of the City’s Project 1 000, with the parade marking their formal appointment as Learner Law Enforcement officers.
Also joining the parade were officers with their service animals, South African Police Service (SAPS) officials and their vehicles, Central City Improvement District (CCID) public safety personnel, and an exhibition on the Grand Parade of City and SAPS vehicles and equipment.
In joining the more than 4 000 permanent uniformed enforcement and emergency personnel, the cadets are contributing to the City’s largest ever safety deployment over a festive season.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the City was energised by the cooperation on display between the SAPS, City, and CCID to make Cape Town safer over the festive season.
He said the parade follows the signing of cooperation agreement between the City and SAPS in August this year.
“Today we also celebrate the 876 cadets who have completed their Law Enforcement and Traffic training in time to bolster the ranks of the City’s record festive season safety deployment.
“These officers will be deployed across the city at our most popular beaches, mountain and hiking routes, tourist hotspots, CBDs, roadblocks by the Random Breath Taking Unit and more.
“Next year, these officers will complete the metro police part of the learnership, and we wish them well in their endeavours.”
The integrated safety operations with SAPS and other safety and security structures will focus on economic zones, with some of the cadets bulking up the visible enforcement presence in the Wynberg, Bellville and Mitchell’s Plain CBDs.
Other priority areas will include public recreation areas and high crime precincts.
The City’s Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith, said the joint operations centres have been set up in various parts of the metropole to coordinate the efforts of the agencies involved.
He said apart from the resources on the ground, the City will also lean into its technological investments as a force multiplier.
He said the City’s CCTV footage, dash cams and body cams will be available to SAPS for investigations.
“Smart policing is the way of the future, and equally smart is sharing resources across agencies to achieve results.”
The SAPS Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, said: “We have entered this festive season period stronger than before with our integrated deployments in force executing much-needed, intelligence-led operations, thanks to the cooperation agreement that enables us to tap into each other’s expertise and resources as we take the fight against crime to the doorstep of the criminal element.
“We are ready, not only for Cape Town, but for South Africa, and our guests as well. We will see these officers all over to ensure our city is safe.”