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JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CRIMESTOPPERS INTERNATIONAL (CSI) AND PRIMEDIA’S CRIME LINE

South Africa has become the first country on the African continent to be awarded a seat on the board of directors of Crime Stoppers International (CSI) following the success of Primedia’s Crime Line SMS tip-off service.

The announcement was made at the end of a week long visit to South Africa by a senior CSI delegation headed by its vice-president, Michael Gordon-Gibson.

“We invited representatives from Crime Line and the South African Police Services (SAPS) to sit on their board of directors. Crime Line head, Yusuf Abramjee, and SAPS representatives Assistant Commissioner, Vinesh Moonoo, and Senior Superintendent, Attie Lamprecht from Detective Services Headquarters in Pretoria have accepted our invitation,” said Gordon-Gibson.

Abramjee said he was “delighted to be given the opportunity to serve on the board. I’m certain that South Africa will be able to make a positive contribution to the international body by sharing our experiences and also learning from them.”

CSI is active in 1200 countries around the world. “We have also agreed that South African will lead the way and work to establish Africa as a formal Crime Stoppers region.

“It is clear to CSI that following the magnificent success of Crime Line in South Africa that the Crime Stoppers concept can be extended to other countries in Africa with both parties working together to help make Africa a safer place for all communities,” said Gordon-Gibson.

Acting CEO of Primedia, Kuben Pillay said the awarding of a seat to South Africa  “is yet another indication that Crime Line is making an impact both locally, and
globally and we are delighted.” Primedia has invested millions of rands into the campaign as part of its corporate social investment programme.

Crime Line was launched in June 2007. 560 arrests for various crimes have been made so far and R24-million of seizures have been recorded. The anonymous 32211 SMS service and www.crimeline.co.za has the support of government, the South African Police Service, various companies, media organisations and NGO’s. A number of organised crime syndicates have been broken following tip-offs to Crime Line.

Gordon-Gibson explained: “We have a representative from Interpol sitting on our international board and our South African counterparts will now have an opportunity to interact on the world stage. I was most impressed to see Crime Line and the SAPS trying to track down Gauteng’s most wanted in a media campaign last week. The public must assist.”

“I met Yusuf last year at our annual conference in Bermuda, and we were all very impressed by Crime Line’s successes. My role in Crime Stoppers is to facilitate global expansion, so countries that don’t have Crime Stoppers but want to start the service, come to me.

“In the last year there’s been significant interest from the African continent. So, I going to rely heavily on South African representatives to guide me and help me make recommendations to these countries. I have to use the expertise and the good work that’s already in place here to expand throughout Africa. I won’t be the one driving the expansion; it will be lead by South Africa,” said Gordon-Gibson.

“Crime Line works well. The figures speak for themselves. I also think it’s important that Crime Line is run by a private organisation like Primedia because they’re totally independent from the police. You have a very strong partnership with the SAPS, but you’re trusted by your communities and people do trust the media platforms…This is very powerful.

“We at Crime Stoppers International have already made a paradigm shift, thanks to South Africa’s Crime Line. Before, Crimestoppers was tied to the telephone, but Crime Line has shown us the value of using the media-of-choice: an sms. It’s  been incredibly effective in getting information through to law enforcement in South Africa and that was where the intelligence gap was for us in the UK and elsewhere. We were hearing from older people who used telephones, but hadn’t tapped the youth until we started using secure online reporting and safe smses.  This has opened up a huge demographic to the police, who are supplying information that they’ve never had before,” said Gordon-Gibson.

Other countries which how followed South Africa’s example include the US, Canada, parts of Europe and Australia. The Middle East and India are expected to start shortly

The CSI vice-president added: “The philosophy has always been that this partnership (which we’re now extending by giving SA a permanent seat on the CSI board) must be mutually beneficial to both parties. Crime Line has said they have a lot to learn from CSI philosophies and principles and in return, the way Crime Line is leading the way in utilising the sms-culture will benefit the CSI countries and offices that are starting to adopt this.

“CSI is there to support law enforcement: not to compete with or to replace, but to support. It’s another avenue to get communication through to the police, and I think the creative use of technology can only benefit this process.

“Global partnerships like ours are essential moving forward: organised crime knows no boundaries and law enforcement must get away from parochial outlook where police don’t look or act outside their area. Integration between regional and international crime-fighting organisations is crucial if we hope to tackle global crime syndicates.

Abramjee concluded: “For Crime Line it’s an honour to be invited to sit on the international board of CSI. We believe it’s great that South Africa has been recognised as a leader in this sms technology, and the CSI board is a terrific platform to spread these ideas to our neighbouring countries, the rest of the continent and the world.”

South Africa will take up its seat at the next CSI board meeting in Canada next year.

Crime Line has received a number of accolades since its launch. The Security Association of South Africa and NGO Matla a Bana are amongst the organisations that have presented awards to Crime Line. At Crime Line’s first anniversary in June this year, SAPS top management presented an award to Abramjee for his role in combating crime. Last year, the South African cabinet praised Primedia for the initiative.

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT: SAPS GAUTENG AND PRIMEDIA’S CRIME LINE STRICTLY EMBARGOED FOR MONDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2008 – 6AM

Police and Crime Line have released photographers of six of Gauteng’s most wanted criminals and they have appealed to the public to assist tracking down these men. They are all labelled as “dangerous”.

The men are being sought for a spate of armed attacks, including bank robberies, cash in transit heists and other possible violent crimes. Some have escaped from custody.

“We appeal to the public not to approach the wanted men but to alert the authorities immediately. We are sure there are people out their who know these criminals and where they are taking refuge,” said Gauteng police spokesperson, Superintendent Eugene Opperman.

The men are:
• Amos Mthembu- aka Maphosa :Wanted for various bank robberies in Gauteng Province. Escaped from lawful custody on 1 June 2008 from Johannesburg Central.
• *Musawenkosi Mtshali-aka Bongani Moyo: Wanted for various bank robberies in Gauteng Province. Escaped from lawful custody on 1 June 2008 from Johannesburg Central.
• *Charles Dube Ndumiso - Wanted for various bank robberies in Gauteng Province. Escaped from lawful custody on 1 June 2008 from Johannesburg Central.
• *Ernest Magadula -Wanted for bank robbery in Roodepoort. Escaped from custody at Boksburg Prison. Injury to leg - gunshot wound. Reports are that he had lost his leg. Last seen in Alexandra Area.
• *Isaac Mnguni- Wanted for cash in transit robbery in Midrand
• *Lindizwe Mkize -Wanted for various bank robberies in Gauteng Province. Escaped from lawful custody on 5 May 2008 from Johannesburg Central
“Information must be channelled through to Primedia’s Crime Line anonymous SMS tip-off service 32211 or go to www.crimeline.co.za,” said Opperman. The public can also call Crime Stop on 08 600 10111.

“We have a provincial task team on stand-by and they will act on the information immediately as it comes in. The public is our eyes and ears and we need to mobilize to get these bad guys off the streets,” he said.

“These men are part of a group of criminals on the list of the province’s most wanted. Let’s make an all out effort to get them arrested,” said Opperman.

Head of Crime Line, Yusuf Abramjee, said: “We have launched this campaign tracking down the most wanted because we cannot allow these thugs to roam our streets and hold the community at ransom.”

“The release of these pictures is the first of a series. It has been proven internationally that public awareness is the way to go and we are confident that someone, somewhere, will pass on a tip-off anonymously via Crime Line and the cops can nab these guys,” he said.

Abramjee said a list of South Africa’s most wanted was being compiled and would be released within the next few weeks.

“We cannot protect criminals any longer and we must all unite to get them arrested,” he said. “We appeal to the public to act now by providing detailed information.”
Abramjee said the partnership between the public, the media and the police was working well. “With the wanted campaign, we are sure we can add to the lists of arrests.”

A total of 554 criminals have been arrested since Crime Line was launched in June last year. The total value of stolen goods, drugs and counterfeit property seized now stands at R23.4 million.

In just under 21 days, twenty individuals have been arrested and R572 000 worth of goods seized as a direct result of anonymous tip-offs to Crime Line. One of the most significant successes during this period was the arrest of a member of the SANDF on a charge of murder in the Free State.

“Congratulations to all civic-minded members of the community who are providing quality information on serious crimes and criminals via Crime Line”, said Director Sally De Beer from the office of the National Police Commissioner.  “They are contributing to ensuring that South Africa enjoys a safe and secure festive season by ridding our streets of the criminal element”.

Abramjee said it was “heartening to see the arrest rate increasing by the day.  The authorities are also getting to the organized crime syndicates and it’s important that we continue and grow the culture of tip-offs … It is our moral and civic duty.

“With the holiday season fast approaching, we also need to intensify our efforts and give the criminals flashing lights this festive season.  Crime usually increases this time of the year and we can reduce and stop it if we blow the whistle on those involved in wrongdoing”, said Abramjee.

“The quality of anonymous tip-offs to Crime Line from the public is also improving.  We are starting to get detailed information and this is vital.  Several investigations are underway following tip-offs and we hope to have more breakthroughs very soon”, he added.

A senior delegation of Crime Stoppers International (CSI) will be visiting South Africa this week.  The delegation will be headed by CSI vice-president Michael Gordon-Gibson.  He will also be accompanied by senior representatives from the US and Australia, David Cording and Tony Carter and operational officers from the UK.

“We are looking forward to exchanging ideas and again sharing the South African experience.  We introduced sms technology with the launch of Crime Line and many foreign countries have taken our lead and others are planning to do so shortly.  The successes achieved via Crime Line have impressed the international organization”, added Abramjee.

Enquiries: Eugene Opperman: cell 082 411 5395
Sally de Beer: cell 082 779 8658
Yusuf Abramjee: cell 082 4414 203

An equity deal signed by the Mineworkers Investment Company (MIC), Primedia and Brait gives the empowerment partners almost 50% ownership of the media company – making MIC the largest single shareholder in Primedia and making this the largest broad based black economic empowerment (BBBEE) shareholding in the media sector.

The partners see the deal as more than simple ownership, but a move towards the transformation that empowerment deals are intended to facilitate. “Transformation is a belief system, not a scorecard,” said Primedia CEO, William Kirsh, “and if you have the belief, which we do, the scorecard is easy.” Paul Nkuna, CEO of MIC concurred: “This deal takes BEE to the next stage as a black owned company takes ownership and operational control of one of the best media companies in South Africa, and shows us to be strong business players with skills honed over the almost 12 years we have been invested in the company, rather than just a necessary empowerment partner”.

The deal was first discussed in July, as changing economic circumstances made it imperative for Primedia to restructure their capital structure. “MIC already owned 32% of the company, and we saw this as a great opportunity to strengthen our black economic ownership,” said Kirsh. He pointed out that Primedia has always led the way in transformation; when they were listed, the company ranked 13th overall and 1st for three consecutive years in the media sector in the Financial Mail Empowerdex Top Empowerment Companies survey, based on its BEE credentials. “However, initially this was mainly through employment equity and scorecard factors other than ownership,” he added. “This deal brings our black ownership in line with the transformation principles we live out in the workplace.”

For MIC, the deal was part of a strategy to target certain investments that would show the company as a serious business partner and a significant player in the media industry. “Empowerment is not an event that will come to an end,” reflected Nkuna, “it’s about creating a legacy and we hope that this deal paves the way for more like it”.

MIC recently made the largest ever single distribution by an empowerment company to their beneficiary trust, the Mineworkers Investment Trust (MIT). The R245 million distribution brings the total amount advanced to MIT to fund its social development projects to R370 million.

The MIT beneficiaries are mineworkers, construction workers, energy workers and their dependents and the company assists these groups through two main social development programmes: a bursary scheme and a project that re-skills and re-develops retrenched workers. The bursary scheme has already granted more than 3 000 bursaries and produced 550 university graduates including a number of highly skilled doctors and engineers. The re-skilling project looks after the large number of workers who have lost jobs as the mining industry has declined since the late ‘80s. These training centres are largely placed in rural areas, and service the greater community they are in, too.

“This deal benefits both our company, and our partners,” said Kirsh, explaining that transformation has become a requirement for doing business in South Africa. “This deal helps us do business better and strengthens our country”.

Primedia owns many media assets including Talk Radio 702, 94.7 Highveld Stereo, 567 Cape Talk, 94.5 Kfm, Primedia Outdoor, Ster-Kinekor, ComutaNet, Primedia Unlimited, Primedia Sport, Primedia In-store , to name but a few. See www.primedia.co.za