Vote of Thanks by the National Commissioner Of the South African Police Service, General SF Masemola (SOEG) Launch and Signing Ceremony of the Collaborative Implementation Protocol between the South African Police Service and the Department of Basic Education Tuesday, 24 June 2025 Cape Town: GCIS Imbizo Media Centre – ground floor; Parliament

Thank you Programme Director, Let me greet:

• The Minister of Police, Honourable Senzo Mchunu, MP;
• The Minister of Basic Education, Honourable Siviwe Gwarube, MP;
• Director General of the Department of Basic Education, Mr Mhweli;
• The Deputy National Commissioners present
• The Provincial Commissioner: Western Cape Province, Lt General (Adv) TE Patekile;
• The Divisional Commissioners present;
• All stakeholders present;|
• Ladies and gentlemen;
• Members of the Media;

Good day

It is my privilege to deliver the vote of thanks on this momentous occasion – the launch and signing ceremony of the Collaborative Implementation Protocol between the South African Police Service and the Department of Basic Education. This is a significant milestone in our collective mission to build safe, secure and nurturing environments for every learner across our country.

Let me first express sincere gratitude to the Minister of Police and the Minister of the Department of Basic Education for your visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to the well-being of our children. Your presence here today reaffirms that the safety of our learners is not only a policy priority – it is a national imperative.

Ladies and gentlemen, the SAPS plays an important role in supporting schools in achieving and maintaining safety in the learning environment. We entered into a partnership with the Department of Basic Education with the main aim of promoting safer schools and preventing the involvement of young people in crime and further to render a school-based crime prevention service that is preventative, proactive and characterised by the development and implementation of interventions that would deter potential offenders and empower potential victims and past victims.

In 2016, the South African Police Service introduced the School Safety Programme in partnership with the Department of Basic Education to create safer learning environments and address crime and violence in schools.

It is through this programme that crime prevention and awareness campaigns are conducted in schools by dedicated Station School Safety Officers on a regular basis. Schools are visited and learners engaged on various topics such as bullying, substance abuse, carrying of dangerous weapons to schools, sexual offences and gangsterism. Most topics and interventions are customised according to challenges encountered by individual schools.

These programmes are conducted in partnership with different stakeholders such as the Department of Social Development, the Department of Health, the Department of Correctional Service and Non-Government Organisations.

The Program aims to strengthen Safe Schools Committees, link schools to local police stations– this ensures immediate access to law enforcement resources and facilitates communication and collaboration. I am proud to say that to date, we have linked 24 541 schools to their local police stations.

Another concept to take note of is the Junior Commissioner Concept, which is an evolving concepts that resides within the Junior Leadership Concept.

It is intended to provide an opportunity to invest in young people and it is an empowerment tool that primarily seeks to instil leadership skills, mentoring, moral and ethical values in young people. The project is one of the SAPS’ Youth Crime Prevention flagship projects that seeks to provide the youth of South Africa an opportunity to contribute to teaching and learning. It encourages full participation and involvement in safety issues that directly and indirectly affect schools, and it instils resilient and resistant behaviour toward anti-social behaviour and crime in general.

This protocol signifies not just a document but a commitment to growth, innovation and meaningful cooperation. This is a call to action that reminds us that school safety is a shared responsibility, and only through partnership, coordination and accountability will we succeed in creating schools that are safe havens for learning and growth.

As we leave here today, may we each carry the torch of commitment – to protect the dignity, dreams and futures of every learner in South Africa. May this partnership grow from strength to strength.

I THANK YOU