Former Moja Love presenter, Xolani Khumalo - popularly known for his drug-busting show, ‘Sizok’thola’ - has joined hands with the City of Joburg to launch a new Tactical Unit to tackle crime within the metro.
The MMC of Public Safety in the City, Dr Mgcini Tshwaku, on Friday launched the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) Tactical Reaction Unit and the Crime Prevention and Combating Unit to assist police in the fight against crime, drugs and human trafficking.
The launch took place at the Moletsane Sports Complex in Soweto on Friday when the unit was preparing to take on the streets of Johannesburg.
Addressing the crowd, Tshwaku said the unit would fight fire with fire, adding that this was a strategic move to respond to the persistent surge in the high-level and emerging crimes in the municipality.
He said the unit had a necessary duty of addressing domestic violence, as well as safeguarding the rights of women, children, and the elderly in the community.
The unit is set to focus on all criminal threats, from cash-in-transit heists to business robberies, hijackings, kidnappings, drugs, human trafficking, and illegal mining.
The aim is to strengthen prevention measures and improve the capacities of crime fighters to investigate organised crimes in the city.
Talking to the crowd, Khumalo expressed gratitude to the City for launching the initiative, saying that he was pleased and looked forward to the work being carried out in the streets.
“We are still fighting crime and it’s a good thing that the JMPD is endorsing this initiative and we will continue to work.
“We will eradicate drugs, guns, and illicit goods as well as the expired food from the spaza shops,” he said.
However, Tshwaku stressed the importance for members of the newly launched unit to be taken care of and be well paid, to avoid discouragement and corruption.
He urged the leadership of the JMPD to pay the new officers well, stating that there should not be excuses when it comes to that part.
“You can’t fight crime if you are unhappy. We need to look in terms of remuneration of our police officers, we must ensure that we stabilise that.
“We must sign their overtime. If they want to go and fight crime and is for the noble cause, then we must be able to support that,” he said.
Furthermore, he encouraged and called on the public to work together with the force and not be influenced by political affiliations.
He said the force was to protect civilians and should not exclude anyone because of their political affiliation.
IOL Politics