The impact of violent crime on South Africans may well equal that of the evils of apartheid at its height, MPs heard on Tuesday.
In a fiery speech delivered during debate on the safety and security budget vote in the National Assembly, Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard noted South Africa’s murder rate was eight times the world average, and 50 of its citizens were murdered every day.
”The long-term impact of such crimes, coupled with the hijackings, tortures, rapes, robberies and general physical attacks will warp our evolution as human beings for decades to come,” she warned.
Attacking the government’s handling of violent crime, she said the African National Congress (ANC) had maintained a ”denialist attitude” towards its extent.
”And, indeed, of the fact that the physical and psychological impact of this reign of terror may even equal that of the evils of apartheid at its height.”
Kohler-Barnard said while the crime rate might be declining in a few categories, the overall rate was utterly unacceptable.
”As a result, the fears, concerns and perceptions people have about crime are worsening because there are so few South Africans left who can claim never to have fallen victim to the criminal hoards.”
”This nation is being brought to its knees by severe post-traumatic stress as a result of both first- and second-hand experiences of the most horrific sort.”
Kohler-Barnard also questioned the competency of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), as well as Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula’s management of the force.
Police stations were in a ”pitiful state” of disrepair, a total of 529 SAPS members had been suspended for corruption over the past year and there were seldom functional vehicles available for police patrols, she said.
Nqakula had been tasked by President Thabo Mbeki to prioritise visible policing, but had failed to do so.
”In fact, the ministry gave it the least attention of all … We need police on the streets, the president instructed you to prioritise this, and you simply chose not to,” she told Nqakula.
”One must also ask the minister why it is that so few police are able to write dockets correctly, [and] why it is that there are police with no driver’s licences.
”Or … why it is that so many of our police are far too visible, being at least double the size they were when they first joined the service, and incapable of apprehending a pickpocket snatching a wallet 3m away from them because running is simply no longer an option.
”Where are the annual weight and fitness tests such as those within the defence force? We are fighting a war against the criminals in this country, and overweight, unfit police are at terrible risk,” she said.
Many police stations were in a state of disrepair.
”There is no privacy when a victim has to give a statement — for a rape victim this is akin to being raped a second time; dockets are not kept safe.
”Often there is no electricity, no lockers, even the locks on the cells are often faulty, and there are staff shortages, vehicle shortages, and station commanders who aren’t even trained to be station commanders,” she said.
Another scourge needing attention was rape. A total of 55 000 rapes of girls and women were reported last year.
”Yet the Medical Research Council says only one in nine are reported — which means there were probably half a million rapes.”
She said Nqakula made much of the fact his department spent its entire annual budget.
”But has the ordered equipment been delivered? Have the stations been renovated and new stations built? Has sufficient ongoing training been delivered? Why is there a shortage of blood-alcohol kits? Insufficient boots in certain sizes? No bullet-proof vests for female [police members]?
”And as you are failing in these areas, how do you expect to train and outfit the thousands of new recruits you’re hoping to flood this country with by 2010?” Kohler-Barnard asked.
Sharp response
Her blistering attack on Nqakula drew a sharp response from Deputy Safety and Security Minister Susan Shabangu.
Speaking later in the debate, Shabangu accused Kohler-Barnard of ”heckling and howling”.
”You don’t understand what is happening on the ground … you are never there … stop criticising members without helping them to overcome their problems. You don’t live in this country, you live in a fairyland,” Shabangu told her.
Meanwhile, recruiting more police officials would not automatically translate into a reduction in crime, Nqakula said on Tuesday.
”.. It is not the size of the police service that will guarantee success in the fight against crime but the ability of the police to forge a viable relationship with the people to prevent and combat crime,” he said.
However, he said the task of forging good relationships between the police and the community was being made difficult because of historical tensions between the two. — Sapa