General Masemola warns criminals against resisting arrest

Zero tolerance is what the police intend to implement as they continue to crackdown on violent and serious crime.

South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola, has urged criminals to surrender themselves when called to do so by police. He was speaking at an update on the countrywide police operations during a media briefing on Thursday, August 2.

General Masemola warned criminals that police will continue to use force that is proportional to the threat when they are defending themselves and the communities they serve. He was addressing concerns expressed by ordinary citizens and experts within the field of policing, in relation to the number of suspects that have been shot and killed by police in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) in recent months.

“It’s important to clarify that our mandate as the SAPS is to bring perpetrators to justice by arresting them. However, quite often in pursuit of arresting these dangerous and heavily armed criminals, our police officers are met with heavy gunfire. This leaves our officers with no option but to defend themselves and the communities they serve,” said General Masemola.

He said on Tuesday evening, July 30, police members in KZN were tracing suspects linked to at least 13 cases of business robbery and car hijacking in the Cato Manor and Durban Central Policing Precinct, when they were met with gunfire.

“Five suspects were fatally wounded and fortunately no police officers were wounded in the attack. Just last week, KZN police shot and killed nine suspects in various incidents. In all these incidents, police were met with gunfire and various kinds of high calibre firearms were seized which include automatic rifles,” said General Masemola.

All these suspects were wanted in connection with serious and violent crimes, including murders and ATM bombings. At the incident in Kwadlangezwa in Empangeni, the three suspects that succumbed to their injuries were wanted and linked in connection with at least ten cases of murder in the province.

As part of ongoing operations on the ground, police have secured the arrest of 766 237 suspects for various crimes. These include 161 752 wanted suspects for priority crimes, including murder, cash-in-transit armed robberies, sexual offences, rape, car hijacking and firearm related offences.

General Masemola emphasised that heightening and enhancing police visibility as a form of a deterrent to crime is at the top of the SAPS agenda.

“Our ears remain on the ground, and we are well aware that our communities want to see more police officers on the ground. This is why we have recruited and trained 20 000 police officers in two years, who are already serving and protecting communities at grassroots level of policing,” he said.

“All these members have capacitated our police stations and various specialised units, including crime intelligence and the detective environment, where capacity is much needed.”

General Masemola added that there are currently 4 500 recruits in training and the remaining 5 500 recruits will commence with training in January 2025.

Through collaboration with key stakeholders in the fight against crime, which includes various government departments and entities - the police collaboration with private security as their eyes and ears on the ground is proving to be effective and beneficial.

Through their E2 project with private security, General Masemola said they have been able to share resources and intercept criminals jointly by working together.