The Eastern Cape Premier, Oscar Mabuyane, says today is about pulling together all the law enforcement agencies to ensure an effective, safer festive season plan. He says the day is also about motivating the agencies and commending them for their work, especially after a very difficult year.
Mabuyane is accompanying the provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga to visit various law enforcement agencies.
“So we are quite happy with the work that the police are doing. We are doing two operations. We will be doing a roadblock at Brackfontein around Gonubie as well as in Mdantsane highway a walkabout to encourage people to be law-abiding citizens. This is about all of us, it is not about the police, we do not want police to enforce this but people must just comply, and if people comply all of us will have an easier life.”
The Eastern Cape also recorded a drop in the number of crimes when the latest statistics were released. Mabuyane says the drop is directly linked to the ban on the sale of alcohol.
“The drop in all what we see can be attributed to the ban on alcohol. Alcohol has been a risk factor for a number of social ills. We have seen this on a number of people who are committing crimes, be it murder, be it rape and other things that people are doing, somewhere somehow there’s liquor involved. So liquor has really entangled our lives there’s really a stranglehold, our social lives are no longer good without liquor.”
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape government has called on citizens to be extra cautious as the province is grappling with an increasing number of COVID-19 hotspots areas.
On Monday night, President Ramaphosa declared Chris Hani District, Buffalo City, Amathole District, Alfred Nzo District, and the OR Tambo District as hotspot areas in addition to the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro and the Sarah Baartman District, which have already been declared hotspots.