South Africa’s Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, along with senior members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), attended the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) Annual General Assembly held in Glasgow, Scotland, last week.

The South African delegation at the event included key officials such as Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya, Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (the Hawks); Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, Deputy National Commissioner for Policing; Lieutenant General Hilda Khosi Senthumule, Divisional Commissioner for Detective and Forensic Services; Advocate Vusi Pikoli, the Minister’s special advisor; Brigadier Ntime Mokhine, Head of INTERPOL’s National Central Bureau in Pretoria; and other senior SAPS officials.

The assembly brought together police chiefs and senior officials from across the globe to enhance international cooperation in tackling issues like transnational organised crime, cybercrime, counterfeit drug trafficking, and human trafficking.

The South African delegation engaged in a series of bilateral discussions with their international counterparts on the sidelines of the assembly. These meetings were focused on strengthening cooperation and developing operational strategies to address shared challenges in the fight against transnational crime.

During these talks, all parties highlighted the growing threats of narcotics trafficking, cybercrime, and organised criminal networks. They outlined specific areas of collaboration to combat these issues, with the ultimate goal of creating safer, crime-free societies, the SAPS said.

Minister Mchunu also met with Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security, Enrique Ricardo Lewandowski, and Vice Minister Datony Xu. They discussed key issues such as the importance of real-time intelligence sharing to dismantle cross-border criminal networks and the need to strengthen cybercrime units. Both sides agreed to initiate joint training programs aimed at building expertise in areas like cybersecurity, digital forensics, and cyber intelligence.