South Africa and Mozambique are strengthening law enforcement cooperation to tackle organised criminal networks operating across national borders and improve security for communities throughout the region.
The commitment was reinforced during a bilateral meeting between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Mozambique’s Minister of the Interior, Paulo Chachine, focused on improving coordination in the fight against transnational organised crime.
The meeting was attended by Acting National Commissioner of SAPS Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, Deputy National Commissioner of the Mozambican Police General Fabiõ and senior officials from both countries.
The discussions followed a Ministerial Troika meeting of the Trilateral Planning Cell (TPC), which brought together representatives from South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania.
The regional cooperation mechanism is also set to expand, with the meeting resolving to include Angola and Uganda as members of the TPC.
The expansion creates a broader law enforcement network through which participating countries can coordinate their response to criminal activity that increasingly operates across national jurisdictions.
Transnational organised crime presents a particular challenge for individual police services because criminal networks, illicit goods and proceeds can move between countries, requiring authorities to share information and coordinate operations across borders.
During the bilateral discussions, South Africa and Mozambique reaffirmed the importance of cooperation between their law enforcement agencies in protecting citizens in both countries.
Officials also received a report detailing work undertaken by the various operational work streams, including progress achieved, challenges encountered and areas requiring additional intervention.
“The Ministers endorsed and adopted the report, reaffirming their commitment to addressing identified challenges and advancing the implementation of agreed activities,” the SAPS Ministry said.
The meeting also recognised the work of operational teams involved in implementing cooperation between the participating countries.
Building stronger working relationships between police agencies was identified as an important part of improving coordination and developing a more effective collective response to organised criminal networks.
The inclusion of Angola and Uganda alongside South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania could further strengthen intelligence sharing and operational coordination across a wider geographic area.
For communities affected by cross-border criminal activity, greater regional cooperation has the potential to improve the ability of authorities to disrupt networks that cannot be effectively addressed within the boundaries of a single country.
South Africa and Mozambique said maintaining strong relationships between their respective law enforcement agencies will remain central to strengthening their collective response to organised crime and promoting greater security across the region.
