Policing rethink needed on murder – ISS
Murders have increased consistently in South Africa over the past decade, reaching a high of 45 deaths per 100 000 people in 2023, according...
Democracy builds resilience against organised crime – GITOC
Resilience against organised crime is created by democracy and its institutions, whilst armed conflict feeds greater levels of criminality in Africa, the newly-released ENACT...
Congestion-easing pilot system coming to Lebombo port of entry
South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) is, in conjunction with the SA Revenue Service (SARS), working on ways and means of easing traffic congestion...
Volunteer defence and police services face personnel strength shortages
The reserve component of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) acknowledges it needs “rejuvenation” with the volunteer part of the SA Police Service (SAPS)...
Hawks arrest 170 plus in connection with illegal mining
The second quarter of the current financial year and ahead of soldiers being roped in, saw the Hawks (DPCI – Directorate for Priority Crime...
JSCD concerned about sustainability of Regular Force Medical Continuation Fund
Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence has called on current South African National Defence Force (SANDF) members to reconsider their resistance to the increase...
South Africa’s police are losing the war on crime – here’s how they need...
South Africa’s crime statistics for the third quarter of 2023 show that people continue to face a serious problem of violent crime, especially murder...
Red Cross international humanitarian law conference underway in Pretoria
Conflict is a constant in the world and with it goes, more often than not, violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), the topic of...
SANDF soldiers recover stolen vehicles and millions of rands worth of cigarettes
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers busy with border protection patrols under Operation Corona have had a busy three weeks, recovering multiple stolen...
SA’s second quarter rape statistics unchanged at over 10 000 rapes
Between July and September 2023, 10 516 rapes were reported to the South African Police Service, almost the same as the 10 590 cases...
SA’s second quarter murder rate drops slightly but remains stubbornly high
South Africa’s murder rate dropped by .8% between July and September this year, with 6 945 people murdered, the latest crime statistics have revealed.
Police...
BMA apprehends more suspects at SA’s ports of entry
The newly established Border Management Authority (BMA) has recorded multiple arrests at various ports of entry of suspects attempting to cross borders with illicit...
Five suspects arrested for drug trafficking, including ACSA employees
Five suspects have been arrested for drug trafficking, contravention of the Civil Aviation Act and contravention of the Customs and Excise Act in a...
BMA border guards apprehend men smuggling state property into Mozambique
Border guards from the newly established Border Management Authority (BMA) have arrested two people and charged them with the possession of stolen goods, including...
Violence on the up in Darfur
Escalating violence in Sudan’s Darfur has sparked fears of a repeat of atrocities committed two decades ago in the region the United Nations (UN)...
Unmasking South Africa’s global crime underworld
Global organised crime is an evolving, profit-driven activity that embraces new markets and new technologies. It refers to a broad spectrum of ever-changing activities...
Modise explains what’s being done to fight crime in South Africa
Defence and Military Veterans Minister Thandi Modise, as “point person” for last week’s JCPS (Justice, Crime Prevention and Security) Cabinet cluster meeting, gave an...
South Africa getting 30 000 more police officers to bolster fight against crime
Deputy President Paul Mashatile announced on Thursday that the government is working around the clock to capacitate the police force which will see the...
Côte d’Ivoire must cut ties between terrorists and illicit markets
Following a surge in terror attacks in 2020 and 2021, north-eastern Côte d’Ivoire has since seen a period of relative calm. Violent extremists haven’t...
Terrorists target the Sahel’s gold mines as a source of financing
Artisanal gold mines in the Sahel have become the targets of terrorist groups operating in Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The groups smuggle gold...
Kidnappings in the Sahel – a favoured weapon of war
Over 180 kidnappings were recorded in the war-torn countries of Mali and Burkina Faso in the first half of 2023 – an average of...
Lesotho/SA migration “model” to be researched amid high levels of illegal migration
Basotho without the necessary travel documentation regularly feature in the top three of people from countries neighbouring South Africa who are stopped by soldiers...
Ghana’s sophisticated artisanal firearms trade needs regulating
All it takes to manufacture a craft firearm in Ghana is US$9. Gunsmiths produce about 200 000 of these illegal weapons a year, selling...
Some African governments are spending millions to spy on their citizens
Governments around the world use surveillance technology to monitor external threats to national security. Some African governments are also spending vast sums on mass...
Other government departments provide bulk of BMA funding and personnel
Commissioner and Chief Executive Michael Masiapato’s Border Management Authority (BMA) is being primarily funded not directly from National Treasury but four national government departments.
Between...
Banditry on the border needs joint Nigeria-Niger efforts
Bandits have terrorised north-west Nigerians for about a decade, and attacks are rising. Rape and other sexual violence, abductions and killings are just some...
SAPS destroy drugs worth R800 million in Gauteng operation
The South African Police Service (SAPS) have destroyed drugs worth R800 million during policing operations in Johannesburg, on Thursday.
National Commissioner of the South African...
SA’s new ‘spy bill’ lacks sufficient checks and balances, civilian oversight – ISS
South Africa’s proposed new ‘spy bill’ lacks the civilian oversight mechanisms to avoid abuse of its intelligence services, whilst vastly increasing the scope of...
SANDF recovers millions of Rands worth of stolen vehicles, drugs and cigarettes
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers on Operation Corona border patrol have in one week recovered millions of Rands worth of stolen vehicles...
Southern Africa’s security hinges on actioning its organised crime strategy
Organised crime in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) seems to be worsening. Porous borders, weak governance and development deficits make the region vulnerable...
Funding shortfall hampers border protection and safeguarding
In auditing the Department of Defence (DoD) annual report for 2022/23, Auditor-General Tsakani Maluleke’s budgetary review and recommendations report (BRRR) specifies funding as the...
SAPS records another massive cocaine bust in Durban
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has seized cocaine with a street value of R80 million following another intelligence-driven operation at the Dube Trade...
SAPS makes massive R70 million drug bust at Durban Harbour
An intelligence driven operation led by members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Durban Harbour and members of the Directorate for Priority Crime...
Corruption costs Africa $140 billion a year
Interpol’s just ended Africa conference in Luanda closed with delegates agreeing to increase information sharing in multiple crime areas from counter-terrorism to wildlife trafficking.
More...
SARS leads efforts to ‘break the back’ of coal syndicates
An inter-governmental search and seizure operation across five provinces was carried out on Thursday 12 October to ‘break the back of a sophisticated criminal...
BMA guard personnel numbers set to increase
The Border Management Authority (BMA) is expanding its border guard numbers, adding 400 to the 200 put into service 15 months ago.
BMA Chief Executive...
Ramaphosa claims progress being made in combatting economic sabotage
Thousands of arrests related to the damage of essential and critical infrastructure have been made since June last year, with a further 70 people...
Troop rotation at two Op Corona border protection sites
There have been personnel changes on at least two of South Africa’s landward borders with new deployments of regular and reserve force soldiers replacing...
BMA will be part of stopping illegal mining
South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA), dubbed the country’s third armed service by President Cyril Ramaphosa, will be part of countering illegal mining in...
Thirty years jail for Kruger rhino poacher
A convicted poacher will spend the next 30 years behind bars, the regional court in Skukuza has ruled.
Sidney Sibuyi was, according to a SANParks...
SA’s new Border Management Authority to boost security, development – Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa has said that the establishment of the Border Management Authority (BMA) – officially launched last week - is a significant step...
SA President launches country’s newest armed service in Musina
The newest component of the South African government’s security sector – the Border Management Authority (BMA) - was launched in Musina yesterday (Thursday, 5...
Nations expand their nuclear arsenals as global insecurity deteriorates – SIPRI
The number of operational nuclear weapons around the world is increasing as countries expand and modernise their militaries amidst a deteriorating global security situation,...
Mpumalanga/Moz border busiest for Op Corona in September
While not South Africa’s longest with a neighbouring country, the 491 km land border with Mozambique is the leakiest, if the latest border protection...
ISS: Digital evidence – a step forward for South Africa
In one of the first cases of its kind, South Africa’s 2020 Cybercrimes Act has been put to the test to secure a conviction...
Global coalition to defeat ISIS to focus on African states
The Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh/ISIS has established a focus group to help African states build up their counterterrorism capabilities, particularly for regions where...
Twelve months before BMA makes “a difference” to border security
The man at the helm of the newest addition to South Africa’s security architecture – Border Management Authority (BMA) Chief Executive Michael Masiapato –...
SANDF assists SAPS with borderline hostage rescue
Members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), working with the South African Police Service (SAPS), have rescued seven kidnapped family members before...
SANDF soldiers recover hijacked vehicle, illicit cigarettes
South African National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers on border protection duty in Limpopo have recovered a hijacked vehicle and seized two cars smuggling illicit...
Crime index shows deterioration in South Africa, which is now third worst-affected African nation
South Africa’s criminality score has worsened in the last two years, according to the 2023 Global Organised Crime Index (GOCI), which shows that South...