Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens on Same Level As Provincial Traffic Officers, SA Unimpressed
- The Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens have been given the same status as provincial traffic officers
- The province's premier, Panyaza Lesufi, announced that they have the power to arrest suspects without a warrant of arrest
- Professor Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk from the Wits School of Governance believes that under the right conditions, they could contribute to crime fighting
- South Africans, though, are not convinced and criticised them for allegedly engaging in illegal activities
With seven years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, Briefly News's current affairs journalist, provided insights into the criminal justice system and high-profile cases in South Africa at Daily Sun.
Source: Facebook
South Africans don't believe the Gauteng Crime Prevention wardens can reduce crime in the province. This is even though they have been recognised as traffic officials.
The Gauteng provincial government announced them in their new capacity as traffic officials on 12 December 2023. Netizens are convinced that while the province created 6 000 jobs, this may not be enough to curb crime in Gauteng.
Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens upgraded
SowetanLIVE reported that Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi's office announced that after Lesufi met with Minister of Correctional Services Ronald Lamola, the Crime Prevention wardens were given the same legal status as the Gauteng Provincial Traffic Officers.
They will operate as peace officers in the same manner as Gauteng traffic officers. This means that they can search and arrest suspects without a search warrant and issue arrest warrants.
Crime wardens' duties should be carefully approached - Professor
Speaking to Briefly News, Professor Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk from the Wits School of Governance pointed out that the deployment of Crime Prevention Wardens should be approached cautiously.
“The Crime Prevention Wardens is a good idea because what South Africans need, among others, is a visual deterrent to obvious crimes and opportunistic crimes. And it’s good to have a presence of authority and law and order in areas where there is evidence of high crime levels. But for me, it’s a visual deterrent and nothing more than that.
"Unless they are well-trained and capacitated in the use of the law and firearms and powers of arrest, and unless this role of theirs has been clarified with policing at a strategic level, including with crime intelligence and national security, I'm afraid we might run into a problem down the line.
"We don’t want people who are under-capacitated, underqualified and inexperienced to tackle organised crime. It will only end in tears. So while it’s a good idea, we must also be careful," he said.
South Africans not convinced
Netizens on Facebook do not believe that the Crime Prevention Wardens can effectively fight crime.
Motsamai Malefane said:
“Can the crime rate in Gauteng come down already? You have SAPS, Metro Police and now this unit.”
Raps Kellz wrote:
“Some of their members are already in cahoots with SAPS members breaking the laws. They shut a liquor store down unlawfully and failed to return the booze to the owner even after he gave them all the required paperwork.”
Molefi wa Malefane asked:
“Does this mean an increase in cold drink prices and frequency?”
Philani Dube said:
“Adding more bribe takers to the system.”
Lonwabo Aad Dalibhunga Pokwana laughed.
“Traffic police that were not trained as traffic officials?”
Thabang Sibiya added:
“We are going straight to jail.”
amaPanyaza training video goes viral on TikTok
Similarly, Briefly News reported that a TikTok video of the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens undergoing training went viral.
The Tshwane Metro Police Department were training the wardens, popularly known as amaPanyaza, and the training's intensity left some of the trainees in tears. Some South Africans believed they could not fight crime, while others testified to their effectiveness.
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Source: Briefly News
