Context
Thanks to an Embassy-based Police Attaché Office and in the framework of a 1998 Police cooperation agreement signed at the highest level of both Governments, the French-South African cooperation in the field of safety and security is a deep-rooted and well-established bilateral partnership implemented through numerous capacity-building and experience-sharing programmes.
A cooperation in various fields
In full compliance with the needs expressed by the South African Government, this long-term cooperation aiming at reaching sustainable results and promoting the best policing practices and technologies (among which the ones developed by various French and European companies reach the highest standards), for the safety of both the South African and the French people is implemented in various high-profile fields such as, among others:
° The strengthening of crowd management capacity – as a good illustration to that, the efforts dedicated to the preparation of the 2010 soccer world cup over the past 3 years benefited to 8,500 South African Police service officials;
° Specialised intervention
° Sea borderline policing;
° Specialised criminal investigations;
° Forensics
and is steadily and gradually developing all through the years with a widening of its scope.
An upgrading regional dimension
This partnership also encompasses an upgrading regional dimension with critical issues such as the building of a capacity to address civil crises in Africa through the setting up of dedicated yearly multinational training sessions, the development of exchanges-based conferences (chemical precursors, money laundering), the support of a regional detective course and the setting up of French classes intended to enhance the capacity of overseas deployments for SAPS members.
Perspectives
The avenues open for the years to come remain particularly fruitful thanks to a renewed commitment of the French Government, which will remain at the side of its South African counterpart in its relentless struggle against crime in all its forms.
