SAPS protecting ANC meetings: Commissioner must probe abuse

20 February 2017

The DA can reveal that over this past weekend more than 50 uniformed SAPS officers were used to oversee and protect ANC branch elections and nomination meetings around Limpopo.

This is a deplorable abuse of state resources by the ANC, which would rather protect itself than protect the people of South Africa.

I have today written to Limpopo SAPS Commissioner, Lt. Gen Jimmy Ledwaba, to probe the deployment of more than 50 police officers to ANC regional branch meetings this weekend, and I have alerted Police Minister, Nkosinathi Nhleko.

The Commissioner must also explain reports that more SAPS officers will be used by the ANC this coming weekend.

It is unacceptable that the ANC is using South African Police Service as a private security firm to babysit their unruly members during meetings due to heightened factional infighting. The ANC’s internal collapse should not be taking police officers off the beat where they should be protecting South Africans from crime.

The DA can confirm that in two specific cases, evidence of SAPS involvement in the ANC meetings has been presented to the DA. These cases are:

1)    At the ANC’s Harry Gwala branch meeting in Giyani this past weekend, where new leaders were nominated and regional leadership candidates were being finalised, SAPS officers were involved;

2)    In Mopani region, where the ANC branch holds its conference to nominate and elect new leadership this coming weekend, SAPS officers will be involved.

According to the latest crime stats, crimes such as common assault sexual offences, murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and hi-jacking has significantly increased in Limpopo, yet the ANC would rather commandeer the SAPS for its internal purposes, rather than fighting crime.

With the unprecedented crime statistics in Limpopo and rural crime on the rise, we expect SAPS to deploy officers in crime hotspots rather than to babysit ANC meetings.

The SAPS Commissioner for Limpopo must explain the legal framework under which the SAPS can be commandeered by the ANC.

The DA believes that the SAPS must not be removed from their core mandate to protect citizens from crime, when they are instead used to aid political agendas.

The DA urges the Limpopo SAPS Commissioner to stop these abnormal deployments of our police officers and to ensure that an investigation into ANC abuse of the SAPS is immediately instituted.

Issued by Jacques Smalle, DA Limpopo Leader, 20 February 2017