The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday launched a website, Victimsofcrime.org.za, to help and empower victims of crime.
At a media briefing at Parliament, DA leader Tony Leon and spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said the party believes the state should be a caring institution putting ordinary people, their issues and their concerns at the very top of its agenda.
However, under the present African National Congress government, the state is a ”cold” institution, uncaring and unsympathetic to the experiences of people on the ground, particularly in respect of crime.
”The DA believes this is wrong. The experiences of ordinary people should never be downplayed or marginalised, and the state should be a caring institution to which those in need may turn.
”Through our victims-of-crime campaign the DA aims to show that our public representatives care about the same things that ordinary people care about,” Leon and Kohler-Barnard said.
The website is intended to give a voice to victims of crime, empower and inform them and put pressure on the state to establish a fund for them.
”It is time that victims of crime and their experiences are taken seriously by the ANC government, and the DA hopes this will be the first step in a campaign to promote their interests and increase pressure on the state to take the appropriate action to a problem which affects every one of us.” — Sapa