Peaceful festive season promise

[caption id="attachment_186618" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Opening of season fire works at the Port Elizabeth beach front. 16/12/2016 File picture: Fredlin Adriaan [/caption]

Eastern Cape premier Phumulo Masualle has called on the police to make the province a tough place for criminals to operate in this festive season.

Masualle was speaking at the official provincial launch of “Operation Safer Festive Season” in Komani yesterday.

The launch was done to inform the public of the police’s readiness to ensure that all visitors to the Eastern Cape enjoyed a crime-free festive season.

Masualle said there must be no area for criminals in the Eastern Cape.

“We want to make sure that the law is respected by all and that cannot be done without working with the communities and the community police forums,” he said.

All the police officers who were working with criminals would be arrested and put in prison where they belonged.

“I have noticed when there is police visibility, people drive cautiously and there is less crime,” he said.

Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga said the authorities would not give criminals any space to breathe.

That would be done by working with the communities, she said.

“There will be highway patrols on our roads throughout the province.

“We know it is a time of cash-in-transits [heists] and we will be visible to make sure that does not happen.”

Ntshinga said she had handed over 29 vehicles to different police stations throughout the province.

“When the stations say they do not have cars, you must tell them they’re lying because I gave them cars,” she said.

“We also want to make sure that our towns and communities are not used as hideouts for criminals. We’ll make sure there is peace in our areas.”