Bheki Cele also said curbing political violence in KwaZulu Natal and gang violence in the Western Cape were also part of his new strategy.

He said:

We will be knocking on doors and arresting people.

We will have high density visibility; continuous search and seizure; continuous roadblocks.

We will be taking most of us, especially senior officers from administration work in offices, to the streets to make South Africans feel safe again."

Mr Cele also said the public should be the eyes and ears on the ground.

Technology was going to play a bigger role in combating crime, he added.

Johan Burger, a senior researcher from the Institute for Security Studies, welcomed the move,saying it should be an integrated approach with regular feedback from the police chief.

He added:

Crime intelligence is crucial. They must also build strong detective teams who will investigate and successfully prosecute some of these crime syndicates."