The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is set to take a proactive step towards enhancing safety in KwaZulu-Natal through an engagement with the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, on Monday, 4 August.

This high-level meeting aims to forge stronger cooperation between Parliament and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

A senior management team from the SAPS will also be in attendance.

The engagement will focus on identifying key areas of cooperation between Parliament and the police in the province.

This encompasses legislative measures to improve policing and public safety, analyses of crime trends and the SAPS’ provincial responses, fostering community-police relations and accountability, and developing oversight mechanisms that support rather than obstruct effective law enforcement.

The meeting was spearheaded by KwaZulu-Natal NCOP whip Mzamo Billy and is part of a larger stakeholder engagement programme. Billy will be accompanied by a provincial delegation.

This initiative aims to strengthen cooperative governance and bring provincial issues to the attention of Parliament.

“The NCOP has a constitutional duty to listen and to act to ensure that national legislation and resources respond directly to the needs of provinces,” said Billy.

Billy highlighted the SAPS as a crucial partner, particularly in a province like KZN, which grapples with significant crime and safety issues.

“The engagement also seeks to build a stronger link between legislative oversight and operational policing realities in the province,” said the NCOP.

The SAPS recently released fourth quarter crime statistics for the 2024/2025 financial year (January 2025 to March 2025), which revealed over the three-month period, there were 5 727 murders in the country.

Of the total murders, 1,193 were reported in KwaZulu-Natal.

The province reported 1 670 attempted murders, 7 535 assaults (GBH), 7 661 assaults (common), 5 629 robberies with aggravating circumstances, 1 892 common robberies, 583 carjackings, and 2 614 sexual offences incidents.

In addition, there were 1 328 residential and 559 non-residential robberies reported.

karen.singh@inl.co.za

Source link