The newly appointed Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela has a difficult job ahead of him in ensuring Gauteng becomes a safe province.
On his first day on the job, Lieutenant General Mawela made several promises including; reducing high level of contact crime in the province, becoming a servant of the people and to work with communities in fighting crime.
The DA is concerned about whether Lieutenant General Mawela will be able to achieve his objectives unless he addresses the need to professionalise the police service, rooting out corruption and improving the response of the SAPS to the needs of the people.
Gauteng Premier, David Makhura also made demands during the announcement of the new Gauteng Police Commissioner that in the next three months he wants the top twenty ‘most wanted’ criminals behind bars.
Previously, Premier Makhura made an announcement two years ago that there will be a 50% reduction of crime in the province, although this has not yet been achieved and our communities remain unsafe.
The Premier also touted Lieutenant General Mawela as a specialist when it comes to specialized units.
Premier Makhura often likes to employ marketing strategies instead of achieving real outcomes for Gauteng.
The DA would like to see a reduction in serious crime in the province. According to the 2017/18 Gauteng crime statistics, the murder cases involving women and children increased by 3,2% accounted for 16, 8% of the murders with a total of 657. The number of sexual assaults increased by 5, 7%, rape cases increased by 4, 7% and cash-in-transit-heists increased by 124, 4 %.
This clearly indicates that Gauteng is facing a serious challenge in terms of crime and our people are not safe.
The DA believes that the only solution to combatting crime in Gauteng is by professionalising the police service.
This can only be done through equipping our police stations with adequate resources and equipment, providing training to the police and adequate staffing.
Many police officers take bribes and are too lazy to keep our communities safe.
Ensuring an honest and professional police service will assist in rooting out corruption and keeping our residents safe.
The DA will hold Lieutenant General Mawela accountable in terms of fulfilling his promises to the people of Gauteng.
The power to usher in an honest an professional police service and build One South Africa for All is in the hands of Gauteng voters.