Some parties in parliament say the latest crime statistics show that South Africa is a very unsafe place for women and children. This comes as the latest crime figures show that women and children continue to be victims.
The political parties gave their reactions following Police Minister Bheki Cele’s release of the crime statistics for the period from the 1st of April to the end of June this year.
There were more than 6000 murders and 9000 rapes in the space of three months.
Politicians say this paints a bleak picture of a country at war with itself.
DA MP Andrew Whitfield and FF Plus leader, Pieter Groenewald, say the situation is dire.
Whitfield has described South Africa as a war zone for women and children.
“Murder of women increased by 53%; attempted murder up 31%; assault GBV up 54%. Most horrific crime stats are those against our most vulnerable citizens, our children, where murder up 46% and attempted murder up almost 30% and assault up nearly 60% year on year,” says Whitfield.
The PAC leader, Mzwanele Nyhontso, says he is not convinced that police are doing enough to fight crime. He was reacting to the latest crime statistics that Police Minister Bheki Cele released in Pretoria on Friday.
In the period under review – from April the first to the end of June – more than 660 people were murdered compared to the same period last year.
Nyhontso says Cele has run out of ideas on how to fight the rising crime rate in the country.
“These stats are shocking. (We) hear the same thing every year. An increase in police murders shows no capacity to deal with crime. Those with capacity don’t have resources. (We) need to hire more police, (to) deal decisively with criminals. (We) need to wage war against criminals. (We) need police who are dedicated, not the police who are friends with criminals.”
ACDP leader, Kenneth Meshoe, says while sexual assault cases have shown a decrease, it remains very worrying.
“9560 rapes recorded, even though (there’s a) decrease of 500 it’s still too high seeing many still go unreported. (It’s) worrying (that) over 3700 rapes happened at home, indicating women are not safe even at home, commuters raped, these reports worrying, indeed.”
Latest SA crime statistics released:
Meanwhile, Cosatu in KwaZulu-Natal has warned that crime will not be curbed if the government does not boost the visibility of police in various areas of the country. The labour federation protested outside the South African Police Service’s headquarters in Durban on Friday.
Minister Cele had noted that murder and rape had remained high in uMlazi south of Durban and Plessislaer in Pietermaritzburg.
Cosatu’s Provincial Chairperson Phumlani Duma says communities should see the police for them to feel safe.
“These are mothers and sisters of the nation. We strongly believe with them being protected children will grow up in families where there is a mother and a father. And we also believe that men actually need to protect women. And we have said we concur with what the president of the republic has said to say if you are silent when you see an abuse of a woman in the area you yourself itself you are equally committing a crime and you must also be held to account in terms of the law processes.”
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.”
