Statement by Bantu Holomisa
Minister of Safety and Security, Sydney Mufamadi’s statement that “…they had finally come to grips with combating crime” based on a small number of arrests of high profile cases, clearly illustrates the naivety with witch the ANC government approaches the issue of crime. By admission of Commissioner Maharaj (at the same conference), little improvement was made in the fight against priority crimes. The arrest of suspects in crimes that received national media coverage is not enough to claim that you have come to grips with combating crime. It is only when there is a clear, noticeable and consistent decline of priority crimes, affecting all societies, when statements like these can be made with an iota of credibility.
The majority of the SAPS staff is working far beyond their call of duty and under very difficult circumstances and in most instances completely without the most basic resources. The UDM appreciates this efforts well realising that in order to fight crime effectively requires a partnership.
The ANC would do well to stop making politics out of the issue of crime. As government it has clearly illustrated that it does not have the will or ability to combat crime and to give the streets back to law abiding citizens. The unbearable situation in the Western Cape is a point in case where crime is used as the ball in the political game between the National Party and the ANC. In stead of trying to find a lasting solution and to bring the culprits to book, the ANC and the NP in the Western Cape is shifting blame. In doing so, they are creating a breading ground, fertile for criminals to strengthen their own agenda.
If the National Party honestly believes, that it, as provincial government, can not make a difference to the crime situation in the Western Cape, then they should do away with the position of MEC for Safety and Security. The money saved from running such a department and portfolio can then rather be used for programmes to establish a culture of respect for law and order in the province. You can not have the best of two worlds. What are the residents of the Western Cape then paying Mr.
Wiley a salary for?
Politicians should realise that crime is too an important issue to be used for small political gains and point scoring. The people affected by crime are real people, their pain and loss is not merely statistics. Mr. Mufamadi would do well to remember this the next time he attempts to whitewash the crime situation in the country.
