Dear Editor
The DA is horrified by the crime statistics for the 4th quarter of 2021/2022 which have exposed the violent bloodbath of crime that stains communities across South Africa. All South Africans are living in permanent fear that they will become the next crime statistic.
These crime statistics come at a time when 61% of South African Police Service (SAPS) members don’t believe that they are winning the fight against crime. Neither the public nor the SAPS themselves have confidence in the police to fight crime.
Time after time President Ramaphosa has promised to reduce violent crimes, but these crime stats betray that promise with almost every single category of crime increasing significantly year on year since 2018. It is now abundantly clear to the public and members of the SAPS that Minister Cele is not fit serve in his position.
According to the latest crime statistics, there were 6 083 murders between January 2022 and March 2022. That amounts to over 67 murders per day! There were 10 818 rapes in that same period which meant that 153 people were raped every single day. Despite President Ramaphosa promising a reduction in crime against women and children, murders of women and children rose by 17.5% and 37.2%, respectively.
Some other shocking crime statistics between January 2022 and March 2022 are:
- 32 783 robberies with aggravated circumstances (364 per day)
- 3 306 kidnappings which are up 109.2% from last period! (36.7 per day)
- 5 402 car hijackings (60 per day)
- 547 attempted rapes which is up 26.3% from last year (6 per day)
- 21.5 children were violently assaulted every single day
- Cash in transit heists increased by 26.2%
The DA believes that Minister Cele has proven time and again why he is not fit to serve in his position and yet in spite of overwhelming evidence that Minister Cele is failing, President Ramaphosa keeps him in cabinet. This is a slap in the face to the law abiding citizens of South Africa and especially to the 6 083 people who unnecessarily lost their lives due to his utter incompetence.
The DA has repeatedly called upon President Ramaphosa to fire Bheki Cele from his cabinet because the longer he remains the more violent our country is likely to become.
The current model of policing under national government is failing the people of South Africa. It is time for Parliament to have a serious discussion about decentralising the police service to improve accountability and service delivery.
The DA will therefore be tabling a motion in the National Assembly to debate the devolution of policing powers in South Africa as a solution to the ongoing failures of the national government and SAPS to reduce violent crime.
Regards
Andrew Whitfield MP
DA Shadow Minister of Police
