Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape welcomes the 1140 new police officers deployed by South African Police Services (SAPS) across our province, as announced by Provincial Police Commissioner General Jula.
The crime stats released last Friday show that although the murder rate in the Western Cape remains stubbornly high, the increase is slowing down. The Province now has the 4th lowest murder rate in the country. Crime in the Western Cape is highly concentrated, and the fact that 790 of the new police officers will be sent to the top 30 stations in terms of crime levels is a positive development.
The DA has long advocated for additional police officers for to be allocated to the Western Cape which is severely under-resourced in terms of manpower. For too long we have seen that police stations in crime hotspots have the worst police-to-population ratios, making the job nearly impossible for hard working police officers. The national police-to-population ratio is 1 officer for every 358 citizens (in 2014/15) yet many of our worst crime-affected precincts have ratios of only half this, for example Harare has a ratio of 1 officer to 826 citizens, Nyanga 1:754 and Delft 1:706 according to the latest available numbers.
We therefore want to commend SAPS for the deployment of personnel to police stations suffering under severe pressure. We are confident that additional resources will have a positive longer-term impact on crime.
We urge the public to play their role and help create safer communities by cooperating with the local safety authorities, and we will continue to do our part by ensuring that communities get the assistance need for safer areas.
Regards
Mireille Wenger MPP
