Tell us the truth President Zuma: Gangsters first or Safety first? 

The following is an extract of the speech delivered by Helen Zille, outside the ANC Western Cape Head Office in Cape Town today.

We are gathered here today outside the ANC’s Head Office in Cape Town with a clear message on behalf of the people of this province, who live in the most violent and drug-ridden communities in South Africa.

And we are here to say to Zuma’s National Government: Give the People the boots on the ground they need, give them the resources in their Police Stations, give them detectives, give them cops who are capable of combatting gangs, give them Station Commanders who genuinely care about working with the community, give them hope, give them safety, give them the reassurance that the highest office in the land is not plotting with gangsters to starve our people of desperately needed policing resources. 

We can take down the gangs, we can make our streets safer, we can give communities the resources and the cops they need to fight crime, we can work together to make our neighbourhoods safe, so that children can go to school without fear of being murdered, or hit by a stray bullet, so that schools can be the foundation of our communities, not gang territory.

We are here to defend the development that can take place, and the opportunities that can open up for people when government cares, so that Freedom can reign in Manenberg, Mitchells Plein, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Atlantis, Paarl, Masiphumelele, Gugulethu, Delft, Mfuleni, and Bishop Lavis. 

We are not here today to protest for ourselves. We are here for the people who live in these communities, who live under the daily fear of 33% of all drug crime in South Africa taking place in their communities, the most murders block by block in our country, and gangsters and gang bosses who own the streets, who kill their children, who restrict freedom of movement, and who cause so much pain, for so many, because of underpolicing

If South Africa were Fair, the People would have the policing resources they need to fight crime. There is enough budget, the money is there, but the political will isn’t there under the ANC.

It is politics that is depriving residents in our most crime-ridden communities of basic policing support in the Western Cape, so that they can also have a chance at success, at realising their potential. That is not Fair, that is not how we build a more equal society, where children can feel safe, no matter what street they play in. Where all streets are safe, not just some. 

President Zuma reportedly met with gangsters, to discuss how he can solve their tax problems and work with them politically to remove a democratically elected government. We have heard how Mr Zuma invited gang bosses into his home, and how they plotted together to do each other political favours.

If President Zuma is meeting and colluding with gang bosses for political purposes, he is setting an example that others will follow.  Then we should not be surprised by reports and affidavits that senior police officers allegedly do the same thing.  They have cover from the President, after all.

A notorious underworld figure closely associated with members of the Zuma family allegedly told other gang bosses that President Zuma is “just like us”.

This is what a newspaper has reported. Will President Zuma sue this newspaper? Will he deny what this newspaper is saying about him? Will he set the record straight, or is the record already set straight by the newspaper reports?

Tell us the truth, President Zuma! 

Tell us whether you are purposefully with-holding money from crime-ridden communities, so that they can have police, police stations, and safe spaces to exercise their right to Freedom.

And tell us, Marius Fransman, since this is your Office we are outside of, what will you do to make sure your President tells us the truth?

Did he meet with gangsters or not? Did you meet with gangsters or not?

You have been saying you were spied on, but what were you doing that has made you so determined to spin a tale about spies watching you?

What are you trying to hide? 

We are going to debate with you in the Legislature today. We will meet you there in the benches, after we are finished meeting you here in the streets. 

We are going to ask you under what law you are bringing false charges to us in the House when you are the one with the gang questions to answer! 

Under what law are you questioning my integrity as Premier to govern in the best interests of the people who live in this Province when you cavort with gangsters?

We are going to ask you to tell us what you are doing to bring back Specialized Units to fight gangsters and drug dealers, what you are doing to check whether our police stations have enough cops, enough vehicles, enough training, enough political will, to fight crime.

We are going to ask you whether there is enough compassion to work with communities, enough commitment from your Boss, the President, to stop the gangsters, to stop the killings, to stop the fear, to stop the debilitating daily existence of every mother, and every father, who keeps their child at home, keeps them from walking the street in front their house, from living a life of freedom, because of the gangsters and their bullets.

Because we have been watching. That is what the Constitution mandates us to do. And we have honoured the Rule of Law, and the Constitution, and our role as a duly elected Government, to work with communities to fight the criminal activity in their midst. 

We have stretched our oversight mandate over policing to the legal maximum. We have called a Commission of Inquiry into Policing in Khayelitsha, we have created a Unit to watch court cases so that no criminals escape from the dock, we joined hands with over xx Safety Partners to watch the streets, and watch the police, who should be watching over our streets. 

Where possible, in government we have even deployed metro police to watch the streets the ANC national government actually has the authority to watch over, even though our resources are limited provincially. 

And where possible we have shown that we can bring gang violence under control, through the Stabilisation Unit plan, an initiative of Metro Police. 

If only the ANC national government would work with us to make this happen in more communities, we would have more police officers to stand at our side. 

Neighbourhood Watches, Churches, and Youth Groups have stood with us, and put to good use the R50 million we set aside to support them every year. 

We are with them in the streets every day during these 16 Days of Activism. And today we are here with them on these streets, at the doorstep of the ANC provincial head-office

We need more cops on these streets, Mr Fransman and Mr Zuma! We need National Government, and the ANC in the Western Cape, to be committed to fighting the same things we are fighting, but instead we see you turning a blind eye, and we hear you are cozying up to gangsters

This is not about elections, and this is not about power at all costs. 

This is about safety, this about being Free in our streets, and this is about why South Africans don’t have the policing resources they need. 

This is about why there are 2400 SAPS vacancies in the Western Cape that remain unfilled.

Why 80% of police stations in the Western Cape are functionally under-resourced. 

Why 1400 less SAPS officers started active duty provincially in 2014, than officers who did in 2009.

This is about why no new Police Reservists have been recruited since 2009. 

This is about why gangsters are allowed to kill people indiscriminately in the streets more and more year on year.

This is about why there are no nationally-funded specialized Gang and Drug Units to fight crime. 

Are you deliberately depriving the people of the policing resources they need? Are you protecting gangsters, rather than protecting communities?

Today we are here to demand these answers. Your smoke and mirrors show has ended. 

We are here to expose you, at your Provincial Head Offices in Cape Town, where the ANC of the province defends their national bosses meeting with Gang Bosses, and where Marius Fransman tries everything possible to deflect attention from the allegation that he has done the same, and has worked with top cops in Cape Town to do so. 

The people will no longer accept lies, or feigned ignorance, or deflection tactics in your answers. 

Tell us the truth, President Zuma. Tell us why gangsters come first, and our communities come second.

Issued by Liza Albrecht, Communications Manager, DA Western Cape, 1 December 2015