South Africa Strengthens Security Measures To Fight Against Crime

President Cyril Ramaphosa said that the South African government has strengthened the security measures to fight against crime by recruiting 20,000 police officers over the last two years in the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The president also announced that the SAPS will get an additional 10,000 officers by the end of this year, noting that South Africans deserve to feel and be safe while walking in their neighborhoods and public spaces.

Talking about the insecurity issues in South Africa, two suspects set a house on fire, killing two women as they were tied up in the bedrooms. The third woman managed to run away from the house. This incident took place on Christmas Eve.

Speaking at the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday evening, Ramaphosa noted that his administration is focused on equipping law enforcement agencies, acknowledging that it has been systematically weakened over the last few years.

"An extra 5,000 police officers have been deployed to Public Order Policing. The SAPS has launched Operation Shanela as a new approach to target crime hotspots, which resulted in over 285 000 arrests since May last year," he said, SA News reported.

He added, "The Economic Infrastructure Task Teams that are operational in all provinces have had important successes in combatting cable theft, damage to critical infrastructure and illegal mining."

Ramaphosa claimed that South Africa has witnessed fewer security issues on the rail network due to the government's close collaboration with the private sector.

He said, "We launched the new Border Management Authority last year to improve the security of our borders and have already stopped over 100,000 people who tried to enter our country illegally."

Furthermore, the president said that his administration launched the new Border Management Authority last year to improve the security of the borders and successfully stopped over 100,000 people from entering South Africa illegally.

Also, the government launched the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence last year. The president noted that around R21 billion has been "dedicated over the medium term to the implementation of the six pillars of the plan including the economic empowerment of women."