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RESOLUTE: National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega at the Gauteng South African Police Service headquarters in Parktown, Johannesburg. Photo: Busisiwe Mbatha

Phiyega visited the Gauteng police head office yesterday as part of her national interaction with provincial departments.

Provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros said Gauteng was grappling mostly with three crimes: house robberies, car hijackings and business robberies.

"The figure of 50% of crime happening in Gauteng can be reduced," Petros said.

But he said that there had been a marked improvement compared to when he took over in 2010.

"Gauteng used to have 25 hijackings a day. That has been reduced to about 16 hijackings a day. But it is not just about police numbers. We need people to actually feel that they are safe," Petros said.

He identified drugs, particularly the manufacturing of drugs, as another focus area for provincial police.

"We thought Cape Town was the capital of drugs . but they actually come from Gauteng," Petros said.

Phiyega said it was unacceptable that on average a police officer has died every 10 days she has been in office, bringing the figure to six dead policemen.

Many others have been shot and stabbed while performing their duties.

"This is serious cannibalism. These are the resources we need to keep our country safe.

"We need society to come to the table because the people who kill our officers are our brothers, fathers, nephews, and daughters," Phiyega said.

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Sat May 25 17:07:37 SAST 2013 ::

Aug 14, 2012

Pointman

First make sure there are competent and uncorrupt people in charge. It all comes down to the quality of people and recources. It is pointless asking a 100kg man to run 100ms in 10 seconds because failure is guaranteed.
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Aug 14, 2012

langman

deal with makwerekwere first and crime will go down and now you can further deal with SOUTH AFRICANS
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Aug 14, 2012

RobinH

And then what. Promote everyone and give them bonuses for non-performance?
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Aug 14, 2012

vivla

For a moment the, I thought she was Bheki Cele. Damn this women is wrong for many reasons. Do the police actually take her seriously?
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Aug 14, 2012

Chichi7

This is not the time to think about solutions but rather forcefully deal with criminals. Rattle them out of their hiding places and ensure that no place is safe for them and only then, will the police be dealing with crime. Whilst at it, deal with men that abuse their women as chances are that they end up killing them anyway.
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Aug 14, 2012

MorenaWaPolelo

Yhu this is shocking why don't you start with the police them selfs...how credible is the starts how can 50% of crime of the country happen in one area or is it Gautengers report crimes because they have cope shops nearer than places like Kuruman!!!!
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Aug 14, 2012

Chichi7

langman
deal with makwerekwere first and crime will go down and now you can further deal with SOUTH AFRICANS
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The problem with foreigners is a small percentage in comparison to problems with our own people. Pointing fingers is our biggest problem and we as a nation need to admit that we have done things wrong and we need to fix them. Blaming a minority group is not helping matters at all. No country in the world that has no foreigners, so deal with it.
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Aug 14, 2012

RobinH

Chichi: "Pointing fingers is our biggest problem" - Seldom are truer words spoken.
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Aug 14, 2012

minezolo

Phiyega looks exactly like Cele in that picture
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Aug 14, 2012

Dandalo

Selebi messed up Gauteng, Cele was about to fix it, at least he was a hands on man who knows what is it that he is doing and how. Now this woman dont even understand special operations, task force and what they went through, just a poor civilian. A cilivian of the worst order, actually where is Zuma driving us to.
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