Criminals "live with us and among us", police tell communities as festive season crackdown begins
Deputy Minister Cassel Mathale launched the Safer Festive Season programme in Mpumalanga, promising round-the-clock deployments and a zero tolerance approach to drinking and driving.
Police will intensify operations across the country over the festive season, with dedicated officers deployed around the clock and heightened visibility on roads, at shopping centres, at ports of entry and in other busy areas.
Deputy Minister of Police Cassel Mathale announced the plan at the launch of the Safer Festive Season programme in Mpumalanga, according to SAnews, the South African Government News Agency (https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/police-step-festive-season-operations-combat-crime).
“We are ensuring that there is heightened police visibility nationally,” Mathale said. The festive season brings a surge in tourism, he said, and ports of entry become busier as people travel in and out of the country for holidays and other reasons. “We will therefore ensure that our police officers are more visible on the road, in shopping centres and other areas with high concentration of our people and tourists.”
Mathale said road fatalities and accidents also tend to increase during this period, with many accidents resulting from driving under the influence of alcohol. A zero tolerance approach would be followed against drinking and driving, he said, with SAPS enforcing legislation on liquor trading and public consumption, and enhancing safety at sports and recreational events.
The Deputy Minister said the “continuous senseless and brutal killings of women and children” demanded a stronger response, and that integrated campaigns and law enforcement operations would aggressively target perpetrators of violent crimes against women and children.
Other interventions listed for the festive season include preventing aggravated robberies and trio crimes, strengthening border security in collaboration with the Border Management Authority, dismantling the illicit economy, enforcing compliance with firearm, liquor and second-hand goods legislation, and intensifying road safety operations with national, provincial and local traffic authorities.
Security at major events will also be strengthened, including preparations for the 2026 local government elections and the protection of voting stations and election results. Extortion and kidnapping are also listed as targets.
Mathale said fighting and eliminating all forms of crime remained the primary mandate of the Department of Police. “We remain sharply aware of our pressing obligation to continue pursuing every effort that will deliver a crime-free South Africa, where our citizens and everyone within our borders will live without fear of being attacked or becoming victims of criminality.”
The festive season programme, he said, “does not replace our primary policing functions but is intended to augment and upscale policing during the holiday season”.
He said the launch marked a renewed commitment to protecting residents and visitors. “We are committing to protecting our citizens and visitors. We are declaring war against crime and criminality. We are ensuring that criminals will have nowhere to hide.”
Mathale also called on communities to work with the police. “The police cannot fight crime alone. You need to take decisive action to stand with the police against crime and criminality. Criminals live with us and among us as members of the community, we know who they are,” he said.
