OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Thursday
FACING legal challenges over the governments moratorium on crime statistics, Safety and Security Minister Steve Tshwete has now indicated the gag will probably be lifted during the second half of this year.
The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday said it was convinced the moratorium was unconstitutional, while Independent Newspapers announced it was taking Tshwete to court on the issue.
Democratic Alliance leader in the National Council of Provinces, Piet Matthee, received a letter from Tshwete on Thursday morning in reply to one he had sent the minister a week ago.
In his letter, Tshwete said “key issues impacting on the optimisation of crime statistics are currently receiving the necessary attention”.
These included proper training processes, the standardisation of crime definitions and counting rules, effective management and control, clear roles and responsibilities, sufficient resources and effective systems.
“The indications are that the critical issues will have been addressed to a satisfactory level in the near future, and that the moratorium could probably be lifted during the latter half of 2001,” Tshwete wrote.
“The main reason for the moratorium was to improve the standard of data integrity and reliability of crime statistics, in order to optimise operational planning in the fight against crime,” he said.
Matthee told a media conference at Parliament on Thursday he would brief his lawyers on the letter, but would wait to hear what President Thabo Mbeki might have to say in his opening-of-Parliament address on Friday before deciding whether to proceed with legal action.
Matthee has questioned the constitutionality of the moratorium, and has said he wants to test it in court.
ZA*NOW
DA locks horns with Tshwete over gag February 8, 2001