The Premier of KwaZulu-Natal Thamsanqa Ntuli began a two-day Provincial Council Against Crime (CAC) strategic planning session on Saturday in Durban.

This structure serves as a permanent platform at the provincial level, facilitating structured engagement between the Provincial Government, Civil Society, and national structures to enhance the department’s mandate in combating crime effectively.

Ntuli is outlining the objectives of the Provincial CAC and how it will be structured to improve the effectiveness of its programs.

Among the topics for discussion are Shifting Realities: Understanding public perceptions of crime in KwaZulu-Natal.

Another topic for discussion will be crime survey study highlighting the hot spot areas in the province: Victims of crime report.

Ntuli urged community members to collaborate with law enforcement by reporting criminal activities and participating in crime prevention structures.

“This government remains committed to ensuring the safety and security of all our citizens. Together, we will build safer, crime-free communities,” concluded Ntuli.

Last week, Ntuli, in his role as the Executive Authority for the Department of Community Safety and Liaison, convened a meeting with community stakeholders on Saturday to address the rising crime rates in KwaZulu-Natal, especially those affecting women and youth.

This comes in the wake of reports detailing incidents of gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide that occurred between October and December 2024, coinciding with the annual 16 Days of Activism against Violence against Women and Children.

The meeting was attended by representatives from Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, and uMlazi including SAPS, station commanders of affected stations or their CPF coordinators, members from safer cities, spiritual crime prevention, departmental senior management, and eThekwini district departmental officials, among others.

Ntuli also held a successful Social Crime Prevention Summit in the Durban in August 2024.

The Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster, Community Safety Structures, Safer Cities, Faith Based and non-government organizations, put their heads together to find remedies that will lead to a safer province.

Ntuli echoed praises on the sterling work by the police and the community safety structures in the province of KwaZulu-Natal and gave matching orders that such summit be rolled out all corners of the province.

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za