<\/p>\n
Cape Town – Police Minister Bheki Cele said a work study investigation recommending specialised units to combat illegal mining will be consulted and tabled in the bargaining council prior to approval.<\/p>\n
Cele made the statement when he was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Okkie Terblanche, who asked whether the SAPS will establish specialised units to combat the prevalence of illegal mining.<\/p>\n
In his written response Cele said an integrated work study investigation (WSI) that recommended specialised capacity to address illegal mining was completed in April between SAPS and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investigation is at an advanced stage and currently being consulted internally and externally and will be tabled at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) for consultation prior to the approval,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe purpose of the work study investigation is to determine the organisational placement, functional responsibilities as well as the required human and physical resources for such a capacity,\u201d Cele said.<\/p>\n
The minister also said a request for the establishment of specialised multi-disciplinary economic infrastructure units was received.<\/p>\n
He said while the finalisation of the SWI was being awaited, multi-disciplinary economic infrastructure task teams have been established.<\/p>\n
The task teams consist of experienced members drawn from the visible policing and operations, crime intelligence and detective service, among others.<\/p>\n
They focus on copper cable theft, essential infrastructure crimes, pipeline fuel theft, extortion at construction sites, among other things.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese task teams were combined with the existing illegal mining task teams and additional capacity, where not available, was established in identified districts across all provinces.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese task teams will be piloted for a period not exceeding two years and reviewed after a period of 18 months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cele said the number of specialised units was dependent on the outcome of the WSI.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe completion of WSI is expected to be finalised by the end of this financial year 2022\/23, where after it will be consulted internally and externally and tabled at the SSSBC for consultation prior to approval.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked by EFF MP Andries Shembeni what strategy was in place to stop illegal mining, Cele said a strategy has been put in place in accordance with the organised crime threat analysis approach.<\/p>\n
He also said joint operations were conducted in hotspot provinces such as Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Free State, North West and Northern Cape.<\/p>\n
\u201cSpecialised investigation task teams have been established in the provinces and case dockets are centralised at provincial organised crime for investigation purposes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDedicated prosecutors have been appointed in each of the above mentioned provinces to deal with these cases.\u201d<\/p>\n
He, however, said they have not established links between the illegal miners and foreign political parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe SAPS has initiated bilateral engagements with neighbouring countries,\u201d Cele said.<\/p>\n
Cape Times<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Cape Town – Police Minister Bheki Cele said a work study investigation recommending specialised units to combat illegal mining will be consulted and tabled in the bargaining council prior to approval. Cele made the statement when he was responding to parliamentary questions from DA MP Okkie Terblanche, who asked whether the SAPS will establish specialised […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[512,513,12062,2542,339,11138,2067,7213,11590,1281],"class_list":["post-151644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-politics","tag-bheki","tag-cele","tag-combat","tag-form","tag-illegal","tag-mining","tag-saps","tag-underway","tag-unit","tag-work"],"yoast_head":"\n