The Democratic Alliance (DA) has remained steadfast in its efforts to have Bheki Cele removed from his position as Police Minister.
On Thursday, the party launched a billboard under the campaign #BhekiCeleMustGo at Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg.
Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, has presided over the gutting of SAPS capacity, failing crime intelligence, a massive DNA backlog, one-third of SAPS vehicles out of service and over 9 000 fewer SAPS officers on the streets recently.
📲 https://t.co/fABNMGlmAf#CeleMustGo pic.twitter.com/Y143TDY3Xr
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) August 18, 2022
The DA says it has failed in its quest to get President Cyril Ramaphosa to act against the Minister.
The party’s Shadow Minister of Police, Andrew Whitfield, says: “We believe that the Minister of Police has presided over the collapse of the South African Police Service both as National Police Commissioner in his previous capacity and now as the Minister of Police since 2018.”
“The Minister of Police constantly tells us that it is unconstitutional to call for the decentralisation of provinces or local authorities. We know that the Minister of Police is infamous for his reckless comments wherever he goes. He hops from crime scene to crime scene, and he stands there and often trashes the crime scene, walking through crime scenes, speaking ill of the victims of crime.”
Whitfiled provides more clarity:
Responding to the DA’s campaign, Cele has called on the party to use its funds to improve the lives of the people.
Last month, Cele allegedly said one of the eight victims of the Krugersdorp gang-rape incident was lucky that only one man raped her.
But Cele has denied this and has sought to clarify his statement.
“The 19-year-old was raped by one man. She was lucky if that was lucky. That’s how the statement stands. It’s something that could’ve been better if she was not raped. But to be raped by 10 men would always be worse. I know that rape is rape. Billboards are expensive. Today (Thursday) we are in Khayelitsha, we are in the Cape Flats and it’s raining. Many people here won’t be able to sleep in their beds because their houses, their shacks are full of water. If they could just take that money and improve the lives of those people there,” says Cele.
