MOSSEL BAY NEWS - Top management of the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Province met Mossel Bay Municipality representatives today, Thursday 19 September, to sign a partnership agreement.

The agreement pertains to the municipal K9 Unit assisting the police during joint operations.
The police delegation included provincial commissioner, Lieutenant-General (Adv) Thembisile Patekile; deputy provincial commissioner: Crime Detection, Major-General Albert Maqashalala; deputy provincial commissioner: Policing, Major-General Mpumelelo Manci; and district commissioner: Garden Route, Major-General Norman Modishana.

The delegation met municipal officials at the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) of the Mossel Bay Municipality.
The JOC, based at the Mossel Bay Golf Course in Linkside, has been operational since August 2022 and the SAPS has an office in the centre.

Lieutenant-General Patekile said at the meeting that the police were "thin on the ground" and therefore valued the support offered by local government, such as Mossel Bay Municipality’s commitment to collaborate with SAPS.

"What is in place here can indeed serve as an example for others to follow,” Patekile said.
The signing of the agreement follows a council resolution made in May 2022 to establish a municipal K9 Unit and the signing of the agreement follows a council resolution made in July this year.

SAPS and Mossel Bay Municipality have undertaken various joint operations to combat crime. 

During these operations the assistance of the K9 Unit of the Mossel Bay Municipality would be beneficial should the police K9 Unit not be available.

The co-operation agreement signed today, a first of its kind for the Southern Cape, is envisaged to also serve other municipalities in the Garden Route district. 

‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’