The government has let South Africans down on crime, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday, at the launch of its policy document on the criminal justice system.
DA Chief Whip and safety and security spokesperson Douglas Gibson told reporters in Parliament that crime was a national crisis and should receive priority attention.
The party calls for 36 000 more police on-the-beat, performance contracts for commissioners, and tax relief for security-related spending.
It also suggests support for victims of crime, outsourcing of prosecution services in the country’s courts and military-style ”boot camps” for young adult offenders.
”Government is perceived to have let the people down. At the heart of this uncertainty is our weak criminal justice system, which too often fails those it is meant to serve,” he said.
Gibson said public faith in the system needed to be restored by providing officials the resources and skills to fulfil their duties, and by creating certainty that those who transgress the law would be punished.
He proposed a set of measures to beef up policing and to transform the courts and prisons.
Starting in 2004, an additional 12 000 constables should be recruited and trained each year for the next three years.
The total cost of this was estimated at R4,5-billion over the three-year period, or a real increase of about 4% of the current safety and security budget. Gibson said this was an amount the country had to spend if it was to combat crime.
The national minister, and all commissioners down to station level, should be given performance-based contracts, and face consequences should they not meet set targets.
Child protection units should be staffed to maximum capacity and households should be allowed tax relief of up to R5 000, or 5% of income, on private security-related expenses.
On rural policing, the DA wanted a specialised protection division of the SA Police Service to fill the gap left by the disbanding of commandos.
Gibson also called for a toll free hotline for crime victims; a register of convicted sex offenders; and an increase in the number of courts by using temporary courts and weekend courts.
Young offenders should be sent to correctional ”boot camps” as an alternative to prison, and first-time, minor offences should see the perpetrators released on their own recognisance.
Those who successfully completed the training camps could be released into community supervision, while individuals who failed would be re-sentenced, he said.
The policy document on crime is the sixth in a series of programmes unveiled by the DA in the run-up to next year’s general election. – Sapa