I would like to begin by thanking you, our men and women in uniform, our heroes and heroines, our partners in crime fighting efforts for heeding the call to join us today as we celebrate the lives of our fallen brothers and sisters who have met their untimely passing while on a mission to create a safe Tshwane for all.
Today we will be celebrating their lives as we lay a wreath for them.
The men being honoured today served with distiction. We were very fortunate as an institution to have the calibre of such dedicated, hardworking men in our midst.
The Msimanga administration today saw it befitting to pause and remember these men of excellence.
Today we honour:
- Kgabo William Selepe
- Johannes Matjeke
- Tshepo Sello Mphaka
- Smith Mabune Sefoka
- Takalani Mukwevho
- Moatlhodi Mmushi Reuben
We also honour others who passed on before them, their dedication in serving our community will always be remembered.
Ensuring safety of communities is an important priority for the City in order to ensure a high quality of life for residents. This entails addressing crime and the social determinants of crime with the mechanisms available to the City.
To our Tshwane Metro Police members, I urge you to be resilient as we seek to make our city a safe and liveable. Our residents need to feel safe and be safe in the City they call home. Prioritising safety and cleaning to attract people and business back into the city is vital for our development.
The leadership of Tshwane values the immense contribution you make to make Tshwane safe. It is for this reason that a budget allocation of R2 billion has been made for the Tshwane Metro Police Department to give effect to all our crime-fighting agenda.
We do all this because we want the people residing in and visiting the City of Tshwane to feel safe and protected at all times.
Other great plans include piloting smart city concept including face detecting cameras in the future. The City will focus on utilising the metro police and law enforcement to increase visible policing in strategic areas, addressing the metro police’s ability to respond to a variety of challenges, prioritising initiatives to deal with drug abuse and protecting residents from disasters effectively.
The department will continue to upscale the drug-bust operations without fear or favour.
At this juncture I would like to congratulate our members for the sterling work they have done so far in uncovering drug operations.
We have met with religious leaders to discuss a plan of action around safety and security in the municipality. The discussion was also a platform for us to strengthen working relationships with the different sectors within the municipality and this will be an on-going process.
Although no resolutions were taken, a working relationship was established. We have taken a resolution to involve the community in making areas safer. This we will do by enabling and supporting community safety initiatives like neighbourhood watches; establishing a hotline for community members to report crime and running education and awareness campaigns in schools around safety and security.
To the families of the fallen heroes, we would like to thank you for lending us your children, spouses and parents in service to the communities of Tshwane.
As I conclude,
I would like to remind our communities to honour women and acknowledge their importance during this very important month – Women’s month.
The Tshwane Community Safety Department denounces any form of violence again women including children.
Women play a very important role in our society and that alone warrants respect for women.
I salute all women on our force and wish you a wonderful women’s month.
May we all be comforted as we celebrate our fallen heroes today.
May their souls find rest in peace.
Thank you
Alderman Derrick Kissoonduth
MMC for Community Safety
082 399 1234