Farmers, police talk crime

The increase in crime, including stock theft and poaching, has been brought to the attention of the Lieutenant-General Sebastian Ndeitunga. The executive manager of the Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU), Sakkie Coetzee, as well as several members from the Joint Crime Prevention Forum (JCPF) met with Ndeitunga to discuss increasing crime levels. Amongst the topics that were discussed were stock theft, poaching, the appointment of reservists, cooperation with the police and animals in road reserves. Lately reports have been rampant about stock theft and poaching on farms while the slaughter of cattle and game on farms has continued unabatedly. The appointment with Ndeitunga was requested following the last meeting of the JCPF. Attending the meeting was the chairman of the forum, Frikkie Engels and Richard Bekker of the //Karas Crime Prevention Forum while Ndeitunga was assisted by a delegation of senior officials of the police. Becker also submitted a report to Ndeitunga on the incidents that have occurred in the //Karas Region. According to NAU, Ndeitunga said law and order, which includes stock theft and poaching, is a priority for the police and that they are looking at deploying the Special Reserve Force in order to bring this scourge under control.“He also emphasized that cooperation between the various crime prevention forums and the public is essential to address this problem,” the NAU said.Regarding the delay in the appointment of reservists, Ndeitunga provided clear guidelines with regard to the procedures which must be followed but added that there is no reason for any delays in this regard. Engels told Namibian Sun that Ndeitunga made it clear during the meeting that he wants each and every Namibian involved in the fight against crime. According to Engels, one of the most important points that was discussed during the meeting was that there is currently no proper structure for the appointment of reservists and this has caused some annoyance among some members. “Even though laws are in place the structure is still not in place for these appointments and this was totally unacceptable to the inspector-general.” Engels said the meeting further discussed some of the successes that were recently made between the neighbourhood watches, the crime prevention forums and also the police. However, challenges were also discussed, said Engels. “There are still some grey areas that remain and among them the biggest challenges are communication between the forums, reservists and police that have to be streamlined for more effective operations and to get better reaction time.” He added that coordination between the police and the reservists is also not being coordinated at certain levels, because there is no proper structure and this needs to be addressed. Against this background the police are planning to hold workshops to inter alia structurally vest the cooperation and powers of reservists.ELLANIE SMIT

Farmers, police talk crime

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Farmers, police talk crime

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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