New police division will target airports and harbours

Leonard Neill
GOVERNMENT HAS approved a security plan focused on airports and harbours where freight theft is at its highest. It involves the transfer of 8 000 members of the South African National Defence Force into a new police division.
It also aims to provide better safety on public transport and at commuter rail stations.
Airports and harbours are high on the priority list, says Transport Minister Dullah Omar, and the implementation of the plan is now just an issue of 'how soon'.
The new division, which will become part of the South African Police Service (SAPS), will not drain the resources of the Police Services, he says, and will involve members of the defence force who might otherwise be retrenched in the Defence Department's plan to reduce numbers.
"These people have the discipline to do the job," says Omar. "SAPS has been asked to develop an implementation plan, which will be presented to cabinet either towards the end of this month or early in June. However, we are not waiting for it to be rubber stamped. We have already started to phase it in, and the ground work has been covered. Now when cabinet gives the green light, it will be fully implemented."
High profile cases of theft and fraud at Johannesburg International Airport have been cited by Omar as one of the main reasons why such a force is essential to relieve the burden placed on the existing police force, which is also being faced with combating the sharp increase in levels of crime on rail transport and at rail stations in recent times.