The South African government lacks the political will to address the high levels of violent crime in the country, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday.
”The Minister of Safety and Security’s [Charles Nqakula] infamous remark that people who whinge about crime should leave the country is reflective of a government who has lost touch with the unspeakable horrors that ordinary South Africans experience on an almost daily basis,” said DA leader Tony Leon at an anti-crime meeting in Johannesburg on Sunday evening.
He said the government’s denials about the extent of SA’s crime wave was brought into focus by President Thabo Mbeki at a Cabinet lekgotla last week when he said South Africans should not be too quick to follow crime-fighting strategies in European cities because Johannesburg had far fewer car thefts than London.
”While this may be true, I pointed out to him that while London experienced 178 murders in 2005, Jo’burg with a population half the size experienced 2 191 murders in the same period,” said Leon.
”This is a massive difference of 81%, conformation of the fact that SA has almost unprecedented levels of violent crime.”
The country has seen a recent spate of murders and hijackings. Following the mid-year Cabinet meeting, the president, should have given Nqakula and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Brigitte Mabandla an ultimatum that unless there was a drastic reduction in the number of violent crimes in the next year, the two ministers would forfeit their offices.
Leon said Mbeki should have also announced that performance contracts be signed by all provincial ministers and senior police management with a clause that they be dismissed upon non-performance.
Leon said replies to some of the DA’s parliamentary questions had revealed there was a serious shortage of manpower in the South African Police Service (SAPS). He said the detective branch in Gauteng was understaffed by a third and the province only had half of the crime-prevention officers it needed.
”This situation is in all likelihood replicated throughout the country. We simply do not know, however, as the minister of safety and security refuses to answer questions on the remaining provinces,” Leon said.
He said Mbeki should have also announced an immediate repeal of the unofficial moratorium on the release of crime statistics.
In South Africa, violent crime, particularly murder, was an equaliser, said Leon.
It drew no boundaries, had no regard for colour, wealth, creed, religion or any other difference. It destroyed lives and devastated communities, he added.
”When the state cannot fulfil its primary responsibility, to protect its citizens, then it clearly has a duty to remove all obstacles that stand in way of those citizens protecting themselves … government must take steps to empower citizens to protect themselves.”
The government had a duty to allow for controlled access, wherever feasible, to neighbourhoods.
Other ”practical” measures to reduce crime included increasing police patrols at identified crime hot spots, the permanent deployment of policemen and the erection of closed-circuit television cameras at places like the N1 Rivonia off-ramp, said Leon.
He added that rural security was also a concern and proposed that the government create a specialised rural safety division within the SAPS. – Sapa