Extremist group increases attacks in western Uganda
Uganda claimed a significant victory over the Islamic State group (IS) in November when it captured a senior commander known as “Njovu” during a...
Equipment worth R120 million plus seized from illegal miners in Limpopo
The SA National Defence Force (SANDF), in the form of SA Army Light Modern Brigade (LMB) elements, is one of at least six contributors...
Business as usual in December for Op Corona soldiers
December 2023 was no different from other months for soldiers deployed on the standing SA National Defence Force (SANDF) border protection tasking – Operation...
Ransom kidnappings challenge North Cameroon
In just three years (2015–18), kidnappers in North Cameroon collected ransom money of around €3 million (CFAF 2 billion), according to Garoua police. This...
UN arms embargo on Somalia lifted
As the ATMIS (African Union Transition Mission on Somalia) continues its troop drawdown, the lifting of a 31-year-long United Nations (UN) arms embargo on...
SAPS continues crackdown on illegal mining operations
More than 90 people suspected of illegal mining have been arrested in various parts of Gauteng.
In a statement on Friday, the South African Police...
National effort to curb illegal mining continues apace
Illegal mining is presently seemingly rated a priority crime, with the SA Police Service (SAPS) supported by an SA Army brigade recording numerous arrests...
Spy Bill “missing the bus” on preventing political abuse – ISS
Despite recently narrowing its scope and abandoning vetting of non-governmental organisations, South Africa’s controversial “Spy Bill” still does not address the core challenge of...
NERSA welcomes imprisonment of criminals damaging Transnet infrastructure
The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has welcomed the arrest and successful prosecution of criminals tampering with the Transnet pipeline to steal...
Anti-corruption forum welcomes SAPS progress against construction mafia
The Infrastructure Built Anti-Corruption Forum (IBACF) has welcomed the progress made by the South African Police Service (SAPS) and other law enforcement agencies on...
Joining foreign armed forces could lead to prosecution, SA government warns
South Africans have been urged to avoid joining foreign armed forces, which may contribute to the violation of domestic and international law.
“The South African...
Use of 3 SAI as police training facility another example of SANDF/SAPS co-operation
SA National Defence Force (SANDF) support to the SA Police Service (SAPS) is not confined to operations only, but extends to logistics, in the...
Court denies Beitbridge fence contractors’ profit
That then Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille’s well-intentioned plan to provide an extra buffer against COVID-19 in the vicinity of the...
Crime Prevention Wardens granted peace officer status
Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Ronald Lamola has designated Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens (CPW) as peace officers.
The CPWs were launched earlier this year by...
Nigeria’s military mistakes cost the country its civilians
Last week’s accidental bombing of Tudun Biri in Kaduna State by the Nigerian Army’s drone unit is the country’s most devastating military mishap in...
Border patrol work pays off for Bambatha Rifles
Another day, another bust could well be the thinking of part-time SA National Defence Force (SANDF) soldiers currently on border protection duty with Bambatha...
10 000 new SA police officers to boost festive season safety plan
Police Minister Bheki Cele has assured South Africa that it will be all hands on deck by law enforcement officials this festive season, to...
Red Cross conference adopts document for further action
Eleven Southern African countries were part of last month’s International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) international humanitarian law (IHL) regional conference in Pretoria,...
SA police make R150 million cocaine bust at Durban Harbour
KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Nomusa Dube-Ncube, has commended the successful operation by a multi-disciplinary team of police intelligence and border agents at the Port of Durban...
Op Corona patrols net 600 plus illegals in November
A month’s work of patrolling mostly inhospitable terrain along South Africa’s land borders saw thinly spread SA Army regular and reserve soldiers net 607...
Misconduct and dismissals at fledgling BMA
South Africa’s Border Management Authority (BMA) was officially launched in October and was at least semi-operational since mid-2022. In that time it notched up...
Border Management Authority reports big successes ahead of festive season
The newly established Border Management Authority (BMA) has intercepted nearly 44 000 people trying to illegally enter South Africa, arrested over 2 000 for...
SANDF soldiers making a mark in anti-zama zama ops
Soldiers are – again – working alongside police to curb crime with the emphasis this time on illegal mining.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, Commander-in-Chief of the...
Scrap metal ban is not working and should not be extended – SEIFSA
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of Southern Africa (SEIFSA) has noted with concern submissions to the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the...
July unrest ‘instigator’ Mdumiseni Zuma slapped with 12-year jail sentence
The Pietermaritzburg Regional Court on Wednesday sentenced Mdumiseni Khetha Zuma to an effective 12 years imprisonment for instigating the 2021 July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal.
According...
Cele repeats “fight fire with fire” call
Police Minister Bheki Cele repeated his call for police to fight fire with fire “especially when their lives are threatened”.
Delivering the eulogy at the...
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...