The South African government needs to wake up to the reality and brutality of crime, the Democratic Alliance said on Sunday.
The opposition party’s call came after Afrikaans newspaper Rapport, said that 52 people are killed daily, 1 566 per month and 18 793 annually in South Africa.
”How many more people have to be murdered, raped, assaulted, robbed and tortured before the ANC government will wake up to the enormity and the sheer brutality of the problem?” DA spokesperson on safety and security Roy Jankielsohn said in a statement.
According to the paper, the SA Human Rights Commission was of the opinion that the country’s Constitution was in danger of becoming meaningless as an individual’s right to life was not being respected.
Jankielsohn said the media had reported incidents where South Africans had fallen victims to criminals, but the government had not acted to prevent such incidents.
”Gang violence in the Western Cape has claimed more lives, a well-known movie and television director was shot and killed in Gauteng.”
Television director Ken Kirsten (58) was gunned down in the driveway of his Northcliff, Johannesburg, home last Sunday. Gang violence in the Western Cape had claimed the lives of seven people in the past two weeks, according to Rapport.
He said what was disturbing was that police were also afraid of these criminals.
Jankielsohn said according to Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula, not all the posts at the forensic science laboratories and at the crime record centres were filled.
The situation was worsened by the severe staff shortages in the South African Police Service, especially of detectives, in a number of provinces, Jankielsohn said.
”South Africans deserve to see a crime-fighting team that is properly staffed and resourced to prevent crime from taking place, and to catch and punish those who break the law.”
He said there were criminals who were allowed to walk the streets because there was no space for them in prisons or were given inadequate sentences.
”Once a criminal has been apprehended and convicted, we need to put them behind bars.” – Sapa