Programme Director,
The President of the SADC Traditional Healers Association, Dr Sylvester Hlathi,
Executive Mayor of the Vhembe District Municipality,
Mayor of the Makhado Local Municipality,
Traditional and Other Healers,
Traditional Leaders,
The Thohoyandou Cluster Commander,
The Makhado Station Commissioner,
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Good Morning,
“The credo of the democratic government under its current term is – Working Together We Can Do More. The Department of Safety, Security and Liaison has combined the motto and the need to supplement the budget by going out into society to establish smart partnerships against crime. The initiative of smart partnerships against crime has borne fruits with the South African Breweries (SAB), Eskom, ABSA and the Thulamela Chamber of Business and Industry coming to the party of kicking crime out of our neighbourhoods. We anticipate even more partnerships in the new financial year.”
This quote is taken from the departmental budget speech which I delivered on 30 March 2012 to the Third Session of the Fourth Legislature of the Limpopo Legislature sitting in the Lebowakgomo legislative chamber under the theme The Fight against Crime Starts with Me”.
Elaborating further on the issue of smart partnerships, the speech goes on to say: “We in fact are making a call on all stakeholders who have resources to pool efforts with the Department to maximize impact in the fight against crime.”
Our work to create smart partnerships across the Limpopo society is an acknowledgement that government alone cannot win the fight against crime and corruption – we need the participation of all the citizens of South Africa as individuals and through their organised formations.
Our defeat of the apartheid monster was a consequence of our ability to mobilise the vast majority of South Africa in support of the struggle for freedom and democracy. We can register a similar success in our fight against crime and corruption by rallying the vast majority of South Africans behind our anti-crime campaigns.
The pre-condition for success therefore remains the people, conscious and willing to be part of government’s country-wide drive against crime. When we met for the Provincial Summit on Police and Ritual Killings on 7 May 2012 in Polokwane, it was encouraging to see a cross-section of South Africans coming to pledge their support in the fight against police and ritual killings.
Among those who attended the Summit were representatives of Traditional Leaders and Healers. Remarkable about the attendance of Traditional Leaders and Healers was their denouncing ritual killings and pledging their support to the fight against this crime that has caused certain parts of the province sleepless nights and discomfort.
Representing the Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa, Kgoshi SS Sekororo denied that ritual killings have anything to do with African culture and therefore justified. He classified ritual or muti killings as nothing else but murder.
Speaking on behalf of Traditional Healers, the President of the SADC Traditional Healers Association Dr Sylvester Hlathi revealed that genuine traditional healers do not do crime, including condoning ritual killings – instead they work hand in hand with the authorities in the fight against crime.
It is with this mission in mind that Dr Hlathi has brought us here today for an awareness campaign against ritual killings. To date two Provincial Summits on Ritual Kills have been convened and resolutions have been adopted. At the time of the first Summit, reported cases of ritual killings had risen to alarming proportions. Armed with resolutions from the Summit, the Province was successful in restoring calm to the ritual-killings ravaged parts of the province.
At the time of the Second Provincial Summit on Ritual Killings incidents were once more springing up in some parts of the province. Supported by a representative body of public opinion, the Second Summit on Ritual Killings emerged with resolutions which if fully implemented will bring closure to this barbaric practice. Inspired by stakeholders who attended the Summit we are confident that the resolutions will be implemented to the letter.
I wish to register our gratitude to Dr Hlathi for being proactive - for leading from the front. We need more of such spirited citizens who are not shy to take the initiative in the search for solutions to society’s many problems.
I make an appeal to stakeholders in attendance here today, please go back to your constituencies and mobilise them into joining the movement against crime.
This past week we retreated for a Strategic Planning Session to find new and better ways of delivering on our safety and security mandate. I am confident that there will be a remarkable improvement in how the department implements its mandate.
As we say in the department – the fight against crime and corruption starts with me.
Thank you!
