The police don’t have the facts on attacks on the Somali community and should get these, said Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on Sunday.
”In a reply to a parliamentary question on the current spate of attacks on the Somali community, Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula has admitted that the police do not have the required information to determine how many Somalis have been murdered, robbed or assaulted in the last two years,” said Leon in a statement.
”In his reply, the minister argued that obtaining such information would require too much time and resources. This attitude displays a monumental indifference to the plight of the Somali community, members of which are coming under attack on an almost daily basis.”
Leon said representatives of the Somali community claimed that 40 Somalis had been killed in the past three months alone, but police said they knew of only 20 such killings in the past 10 months.
”The police will never be able to combat this scourge as long as they do not know the true scale of the problem,” said Leon.
Leon said Somalis had complained to the DA of the ”lacklustre” response by police to their concerns. – Sapa