The new commander for the Makhado cluster of the SAPS, Col Eddie van der Walt, has sent his festive season message to all people living and visiting the Makhado cluster policing area during this season.

He started by acknowledging that the year 2015 had brought a lot of challenges within the cluster, but all those challenges were swiftly tackled by the police officers who were always readily available for maintaining peace, security and safety.

“Our members have had sleepless nights attending to different incidents and addressing all challenges which faced them as police officers,” Van der Walt said. “However, as police officers, we would not have tackled all cases and helped or attended to victims of crimes if we didn't work hand in hand with our people within the communities.”

He said that it was through community-outreach programmes that the police were able to reach most of their work-related goals. “Community involvement in the fight against crime enables residents or members of the communities to be part of the crime-fighting mechanism,” he said.

He indicated that the festive season was the period where most fatal accidents were happening on public roads and urged all people to obey the laws of the road in order to arrive alive at their different destinations. “Let us keep our homes safe at all times, and never leave little children unattended,” he advised. “That also includes our elderly and acutely disabled persons, who all need to be taken good care of at all times. We are aiming towards a safe festive season.”

He warned people about the consumption of alcohol in public places and while driving and said that the Makhado SAPS cluster had already intensified their visibility, which included foot patrols, road blocks and joint operations with other law-enforcement institutions.

“Let us all enjoy the festive season in harmony in the company of our beloved families and friends,” he said. “May we all have a merry Christmas and a prosperous new year!”