Restructuring of police sorely needed 

11 September 2018

Following the crime statistics that were made public today, it is clear that the South African Police Service (SAPS) and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are not capable of duly protecting the citizens of South Africa.

The mentioned statistics indicate that the murder rate has risen by 1 000 murders every year for the past six years, to where it is currently calculated at 20 336 murders for 2017/2018.

The only way in which this tendency could be curbed, is to restructure the entire SAPS and to put measures in place to get the NPA to a standard where criminals can be prosecuted effectively.

“The latest crime statistics are terrifying to say the least. Trust in the ability of the country’s law enforcers to fight crime is injured anew year after year thanks to the high level of serious crimes,” says Ian Cameron, AfriForum’s Head of Community Safety.

The situation regarding the fighting of crime in the country should take priority to avoid total anarchy and decline.

“Government’s indifference says much for the denial with which government acts regarding this serious matter. This attitude projects the image that government is not planning to take actionable steps to manage the situation and the crime statistics will accordingly keep rising, as is already the inclination,” Cameron concludes.

Issued by Marelie Greeff, Media Relations Officer, AfriForum, 11 September 2018