Gauteng Premier David Makhura says collaboration between law enforcement agencies and private security companies is critical for crime fighting.

He was speaking during the Operation O Kae Molao road safety and crime prevention blitz in Soweto.

“The police have been working with private security companies… on specific crimes and they committed to also help track perpetrators of specific crimes. We will see much more improved security and public safety when we see cooperation between law enforcement agencies and private security companies. They have done it before and they worked very well even when they were dealing with unrests,” he said.

Makhura also emphasised the importance of ensuring rigorous investigatons in order to secure convictions against those accused of crime.

“It doesn’t help to arrest a lot of people but then when they appear in court, proper detective work has not been done. We do want our police and crime intelligence to also shape up,” he said.

The Premier acknowledged internal weaknesses within law enforcement in the province but said these were being ironed out.

“We used to have serious weaknesses in the leadership of the [police] and all the units like the Hawks (Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) and crime intelligence. So we met with all of them… and we can see the results of their actions. In Gauteng, there are major improvements with regard to crime intelligence and the Hawks in the province are also shaping up,” he said.

Source: South African Government News Agency