Following the murder of three men in Khayelitsha this past weekend, Minister Bheki Cele continued his precedence of taking no action by hosting yet another imbizo in the community yesterday. Once again, he has chosen to host talk shops instead of using the immense political power he has to make a difference.
The Minister does not understand the crux of the matter: Countless meetings are not going to solve to rampant crime that endangers the lives of residents. We know what the issues are – what we need is more resources to fight crime in the Western Cape.
While Minister Cele continues to live in a world of fantasy, the residents of Khayelitsha still faces:
- A police station which is ranked 16th in contact crimes and 8th in murder as per the recent Fourth Quarter Crime Statistics.
- Khayelitsha Police Station also now has 321 police officers deployed to it, which is an almost 4% reduction since 2018. This means there are fewer officers available to assist the community.
- Overall, the Anti-Gang Unit in the Western Cape is experiencing a 38% vacancy rate which prohibits our efforts to combat gangsterism in the province.
MPP Gillion Bosman says: “Minister Cele also reiterated that the Constitution only allows for a national police service – this is not true. According to Section 206(4), police functions can be assigned to provincial executives through national legislation and/or national police policy. Despite the accommodations made in the Constitution, it shows that the Minister is completely ignorant to the tools he has to his disposal to make our communities safer.
Minster Cele once again shows that he does not have the intellectual understanding of this portfolio with all of its complexities. He is the political head of a department that is responsible for the prevention, combating and investigation of crime, as well as the maintaining of public order. In order for residents of Khayelitsha to feel safe and be protected, an understanding of these issues is needed to uphold and enforce the law. He needs to stop acting like a talking hat and start taking action to protect our communities.
As the Western Cape, we will continue to implement the Safety Plan and deploy LEAP officers to areas in need. It is time for capable, subnational governments to step into the role of policing which the national government has completely incapacitated.”
