National Council of Provinces supervises KZN police stations

Enock Mthethwa, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, says the National Council of Provinces’ visit to KwaZulu-Natal this week to assess the health of the province’s police stations will result in a report with suggestions.

In northern KwaZulu-Natal, the crew visited the Manguzi police station.

Cross-border crimes, such as vehicle theft, are common in the area. Some vehicles are stolen in South Africa and transported to Mozambique, according to reports.

According to Mthethwa, the focus of the visit will be on the police’s ability to combat crime.

“In all departments, our goal this year is to deal with the issue of infrastructure.” It differs per province, but in KZN, we’ve agreed to focus on crime-fighting capabilities, including the state of the police in townships and rural areas, as well as their resources. Following that, we will return to the NCOP in Parliament and create a report that will be debated in the house and decisions will be taken.”

Cele on cross-border crime

Bheki Cele, South Africa’s police minister, said in February that more coordination and alignment between South Africa and its neighbors is needed to tackle cross-border crime. He claims that the rules of several countries make pursuing criminals across borders difficult.

Cele offered an example of cars found in Mozambique after being stolen in South Africa when briefing Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police on the third quarter statistics for the fiscal year 2021-2022.

“In SA,  if you buy stolen goods, you are not innocent, but there, the buyers [are] always innocent. Which means once the car is on the other side and is bought, you can’t take it from that owner because the buyer is innocent,” says Cele.