Crime stats: Minister Cele should be out of a job by close of business today
23 November 2022
ActionSA notes the abysmal second quarter crime statistics as released earlier today by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele.
The second quarter crime statistics put into sharp focus the situation South Africans have to endure every day and it is only getting worse as evidenced by the Police Minister’s own numbers.
Virtually every category of crime is up. Most notably:
Murder is up by 13.6%
Robberies with aggravating circumstances are up by 22%
Common robbery is up by a staggering 25%
Attempted murder is up by 19.4%
Rape is up by 10.8%
Attempted sexual offences are up by 34%
The list goes on and on. These are not passing grades. If Minister Cele had any decency he would resign before the close of business today because, by his own admission, he has failed to keep South Africans safe. In fact, under his watch, South Africa has become a more unsafe country.
We have a quasi-Police Minister who spends more time courting the media at high-profile crime scenes in aid of his personal celebrity status than he does providing the requisite political leadership to reform SAPS and turn the tide against crime.
How can we expect ordinary South Africans to observe the Rule of Law while we have a President who is, himself, facing probes over his allegedly unlawful conduct? This is with specific reference to assault, kidnapping and financial crimes related to the Phala Phala debacle. A President of a criminal syndicate masquerading as a political party, who remained silent while serving alongside the architect of State Capture, former President Zuma.
What hope did we have to turn the tide against crime, when crime is practised with reckless abandon at the very top?
Given the perpetual rise of crime and violence in South Africa under successive ANC governments, the solution is undoubtedly the unseating of the ANC and their replacement with a caring government that is committed to restoring law and order so that South Africans can begin to feel safe and not under siege in their own country, and in their own homes. We cannot expect ordinary South Africans to refrain from criminal behaviour when being a criminal seems to be a minimum requirement for becoming a leader in the ANC.
Earlier this month the President hosted another GBV Summit to reassure South Africans that his government “is doing more” to protect South Africans against criminals while women and children continue to be subjected to violent crime.
South Africans don’t need another summit, they need another government.
While we work to unseating the ANC in 2024, we will settle for a new Police Minister. One that works tirelessly to professionalise the South African Police Service (SAPS) and improving resourcing of our law enforcement agencies to competently perform their functions and to recapacitate Crime Intelligence that was gutted by the Richard Mdluli years so that we can begin to stop crime before it happens and start saving the lives of ordinary South Africans. Many of whom are women and children.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, President, ActionSA, 23 November 2022
