Criminals to grace television and billboards

Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa says that the South African Police Service intends to use billboards, television and newspaper advertisements to bring the faces of criminals into the public spaces.

He was responding to a written question from the Democratic Alliance's Kenneth Mubu in the National Assembly.

Mthethwa would not say how many billboards will be used along the highways of South Africa's cities to advertise the faces of wanted criminals to members of the public because the SAPS was "waiting for the details of a bulk-buying agreement being negotiated by the Government Communication and Information System.

However, he did say that the pictures published on billboards, in newspapers and on television would regularly be updated.

Many teenagers in deprived townships around South Africa are believed to regard some criminals as "cult icons" because they are wealthy, drive fancy cars, wear designer clothes and live like kings.

It seems that the latest move is a variation on an old television programme that was known colloquially as 'Check your Mate' or, more correctly as Crime Line, when SABC was broadcasting a 15-minute series on wanted criminals many years ago.

View the Crime Line wanted list.
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