South African security experts in Bavaria
Ministerial delegation from South Africa studies German crime prevention strategies in Bavaria
Gerhard Eck, State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior and Integration, and the President of the Bavarian State Police, Prof Dr Wilhelm Schmidbauer, give a presentation about strategies to implement citizen-friendly policing during a visit at the Ministry of Interior
HSF
Security challenges in South Africa
South Africans are placing a lot of hope in their new president, Cyril Ramaphosa. Apart from economic reforms, they also expect improvements in the rule of law. Increased murder and robbery rates as well as domestic and sexual violence make life insecure and dangerous for many citizens and have a detrimental effect on economic and social development. Especially in recent years, many South Africans have lost faith in their law enforcement agencies.
Following the resignation of Jacob Zuma and the election of Cyril Ramaphosa as President on 15 February, there is hope that the new government will also implement the necessary reforms in the security structures of the country. The appointment of former National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele as new Minister of Police is widely seen as a positive sign. Furthermore, the recent investigations into corrupt and politically connected families such as the Gupta brothers seem to give an indication that the law enforcement agencies are adapting to the new leadership.
The Ministerial delegation is informed about the interconnection between theory, practice and personality development in the training of police officials in Bavaria.
HSF
Exploring strategies for service-oriented, citizen friendly police work
Against this backdrop, a high-level South African delegation comprising politicians, police officers and experts from security think tanks visited Bavaria to learn about German violence prevention strategies, the involvement of civil society in community safety initiatives and service-oriented policing. The delegation was led by the provincial Minister for Community Safety, Daniel Plato, from the Western Cape – a partner province of Bavaria. Minister Plato was accompanied by Alvin Rapea, Head of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service and Advisor to the National Minister of Police, the Deputy Police Commissioner of the Western Cape, Major General Mpumelelo Manci, and the National Police Commander for Visible Policing, Major General Thokozani Mathonsi as well as other delegation members. The talks and discussions with Bavarian security experts, politicians and members of civil society often also focused on how public confidence in law enforcement can be improved.
In political discussions with the chairman of the Committee on Municipal Affairs, Internal Security and Sports of the Bavarian State Parliament, MP Manfred Ländner, and the parliamentary spokesman of the CSU Fraction on Development Policy, Klaus Steiner, it became clear that human development also depends on human security, and that a lack of community safety and the non-enforcement of the rule of law clearly threaten democracy. "Without achieving security in partner countries, development cooperation proves to be unsustainable as well", said MP Steiner.
During several expert talks with Gerhard Eck, State Secretary in the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior and Integration, and the President of the Bavarian State Police, Prof Dr Wilhelm Schmidbauer, the concept and aspects of citizen-friendly policing were discussed and implementation strategies presented. The experts agreed that ultimately, crime could only be effectively reduced by a two-dimensional strategy: firstly, the police must at all times act professionally and within the framework of the rule of law in their fight against crime to regain the confidence of citizens. Secondly, it is necessary to sensitize the population further in order to reduce levels of violence and to achieve consensus that violence is never acceptable. "After all, the strongest weapon against violence is the spoken word," said Wolfgang Sommer, Commissioner of Training, Bavarian Special Response Police, in his lecture on de-escalation and communication strategies.
The chairperson of the Hanns Seidel Foundation Prof. Ursula Männle, discussing the partnership of Bavaria and the Western Cape with MEC for Community Safety Dan Plato
HSF
Bavarian State Chancellery supports new HSF partner projects in the Western Cape
This two-pronged approach is also at the core of a new project financed by the Bavarian State Chancellery and implemented by the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) with its partner organisations in South Africa, of which the delegation visit formed an integral part.
The South African visitors were informed by the Bavarian police and local NGOs about:
- Successful violence prevention strategies, with a special focus on cooperation between the police and civil society
- Protection of women and children
- Modern police leadership (education and training)
- Situation analysis and modern technology to combat crime
Finally, possible future projects, to be implemented within the framework of the existing partnership between Bavaria and the Western Cape, were discussed by Bavarian State Minister Georg Eisenreich and Minister Daniel Plato. In this context, Minister Plato thanked Minister Eisenreich for the assistance that Bavaria has been providing to the Western Cape as part of their development cooperation.
The knowledge and insights acquired during the visit of the delegation to Bavaria will be explored and discussed further over the coming days, and they will be passed on to national and sub-national decision-makers in South Africa during several follow-up workshops, the Minister said. The HSF will continue to support these processes.