Millions of Gauteng residents are at risk of experiencing crime daily, as the recent crime statistics reflect no improvement.
Gauteng police stations are devastatingly dominating the national top 30 police stations in the following cases reported kidnapping, rape, sexual assault, murder, stock theft, carjackings, trio crimes (carjackings, house robberies and business robberies) and attempted sexual assault.
Even though the Gauteng MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko, is aware of the shortfalls that hinder Gauteng police stations from combating crime, such as the high vacancy rate and lack of vehicles, she has done nothing yet to ensure that our police stations are adequately equipped with resources.
In a period of three months from 1 July to 30 September 2022, there has been a sharp increase in below crimes:
• Kidnapping increased by 164.3%, from 796 to 2104
• Attempted sexual assault increased by 8.2%, 49 to 53
• Robbery in residents increased by 4.2%, from 1829 to 1906
• Trio crimes increased by 8.6%, from 5920 to 6427
• Rape increased by 10.2%, 2054 to 2263
• Murder increased by 19.6%, from 1320 to 1857
• Sexual assault increased by 4.7%, from 490 to 513
• Carjacking increased by 17%, from 2518 to 2945
This is only a reflection of zero crime intelligence within our police services.
The DA continues to demand Minister of Police, Bheki Cele and MEC Mazibuko adopt the DA’s Community Safety Oversight Bill which will put emphasis on improving police intelligence in Gauteng. This Bill is the only solution to improve police service delivery and ensure that all our police stations are well-equipped and monitored to deliver adequate services to the communities they serve.
The residents of Gauteng lack confidence in our police services, and we cannot blame them. Communities are fighting crime alone, particularly crimes against vulnerable members of society particularly, women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities which has risen even in institutions for learning.
Our police services need a proper crime intelligence approach because we cannot expect police officers to fight crimes such as rape, carjackings, and murder if we have poor crime intelligence and a lack of resources.
Furthermore, the DA demands the devolution of powers and decentralisation of the South African Police Services (SAPS) so that each province can manage police resources and budget on their own without interference from the national government.
The failures of Minister Cele and MEC Mazibuko leave them no choice but to vacate their offices. When the DA governs in 2024, we will implement our Community Safety Oversight Bill, which will serve and protect the vulnerable residents of Gauteng from criminals.
Click on the link here to Support the DA’s Community Safety Bill.