Programme Director,
Our Traditional Leaders present here,
Premier of the Eastern Cape, Ms Kieviet,
MEC of Community Safety,
National Commissioner of Police,
General Cele,
Provincial Commissioner of the Eastern Cape,
Lt. General Binta,
Deputy Executive Mayor of Nelson Mandela Metro,
Cllr. Sihlwayi,
Head of the National FCS Unit,
Maj. General Botsheleng,
All SAPS Top Management present here,
All our men and women in blue,
National Prosecuting Authority Representative,
Department of Social Development representative,
Civil Society present here,
The Faith-based structures,
Youth present,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Bahlali, bazali bam, it is indeed a great delight for me to be amongst you in the Friendly City, Amambhozana, and to present brief remarks to this remarkable occasion hosted by our men and women in blue.
It is also always a joy and pleasure to experience the heartland beauty of this province Eastern Cape for its acclaimed majestic landscapes, untouched beautiful nature and beaches, and of course its beautiful people. However, as we are here as Police and ANC-led Government, we are quite aware that, at most times behind these accolades of natural beauty of the Eastern Cape, lay the volatility, vulnerability and instability caused by extreme poverty, crime, corruption and violence in our communities, of which the Police are expected and anticipated, and rightly so, to diffuse in partnership with communities.
Therefore, as Ministry of Police, we highly commend our National Commissioner, General Bheki Cele, for continuing to make it difficult for the criminals to have their intended heartless and vicious criminal activities against our people and communities. As Ministry of Police we indeed say, well done General and your team for reducing crime in the past financial year 2010/11.
I am sure, with your vigor and passion, this trend will continue beyond this reviewed period. We must also indicate that, these are the fruits of a visionary SAPS Leadership, led by the Minister of Police, Minister Mthethwa, who made sure that the Police strategy shift for the better and for the smarter, especially when it comes to effectively and efficiently addressing the vulnerability of our children and women to senseless violence, abuse and sexual molestation.
For instance, we are here thanks to the announcement by the Minister of Police in 2009, and ultimate re-introduction of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Units, starting in June 2010, after these units were disbanded in 2006. Taking this opportunity to welcome our new Head of National FCS Unit, Maj. General Botsheleng on behalf of the Ministry of Police, I thus wish to advise you Maj. General, as you begin to roll-out the FCS units across the Provinces, that you and your team must start to bring back the one strong link partner against children’s and women’s abuse; and that is the family.
For it has never been this government’s intention to be rhetoric and simplistic when it comes to addressing crimes perpetuated against women and children. When we are saying “Fighting Crime, It Starts With Me”, we mean as such. By effecting and operationalising the FCS Unit, we acknowledge as government that, at most times, family situations heighten a child or a woman’s risk for all sorts of abuses.
Further, we wish to reiterate what is now said now-and-again that, together we can do more against crime, meaning Police needs community’s and families’ assistance to fight women’s and children’s abuse. We are emphasising the family/parent factor as one of the strong link for Policing Partnership, solely because we know as parents and as mothers that, “Kids don't read their parents' lips, they watch their parents' actions.
For instance, Bazali, we know that we have a challenge where children under 18 years of age live in a household where a parent or other adult uses illicit drugs or distribute drugs. We have children who live in a household where a parent or other adults are binge or heavy drinkers. We have children who live in a household where parent or a relative is a child molester and woman beater.
As government, we say this must stop, as parents are putting their children, and this country’s future, at risk of having anti-social behavior at a later life. We thus have a great trust that, the FCS Units will help families provide protection from later problematic years of a child, by facilitating a strong bond between children and parents; by helping parents to be involved in their child’s life; by helping parents setting clear limits and consistent enforcement of discipline.
We are calling on Parents to use Police information on FCS Units to help themselves and their children develop preventive actions before problems occur. We are calling on schools and educators to strengthen learning and bonding at schools by addressing aggressive behaviours and poor concentration, in partnership with Police.
We are calling on community leaders to assess community risk and protective factors associated with all types of crimes in our communities, and partner with our Police to prevent and combat crimes. By launching this operation When Duty Calls across the country, we are saying that the police can never fight crime alone. We know how important successful local partnerships are to fight and prevent crime. By re-introducing the FCS Units, we as government want to build on the best local partnerships, ensuring that they are action-oriented, not weighed down by process or meetings.
We want to make Community Safety Partnerships more effective and more accountable. Eradication of women and child abuse is central to the fight against crime. This requires deliberate programmes of education and other measures to transform gender and family relations, the retraining of justice administrators and the police, and the provision of the necessary resources to ensure the safety and restore the dignity of the victims.
We are therefore pleased to see the presence of other government departments in our midst to support the Department of Police, such as the NPA and Social Development. Just last week, I was supporting the Minister of Social Development in the launch of a Khuseleka Victim Empowerment Centre in Polokwane, Limpopo.
The emphasis there was to make sure that there is a renewed effort of a broad-based, coordinated and effective support services by the JCPS cluster and other government departments such as Social Development and Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, for the victims of rape, molestation and violence. Programmes such as Khuseleka enhances the Victim Empowerment Programme to treat many victims than the previous years; in the process combating the feelings of helplessness on the part of victims.
Another emphasis we made at that Khuseleka launch was that, government departments need to enable rural regions to participate in national development and to guarantee the rural inhabitants their citizens’ rights as well. And, innovative approaches such as the Khuseleka One-stop centre were seen as best tools to address challenges associated with rural service delivery, such as accessibility and quality.
The Eastern Cape is also largely a rural Province, and there are new offences unique to this Province, such as those relating to sexual activities of consenting under-aged children, grooming of children, engaging the sexual services of adults, trafficking for sexual purposes, ukuthwala. These are sexual offences that require consolidated efforts between government departments at all three spheres of government. But, most importantly, government understands the centrality of mobilising society to make life difficult for criminals in our midst. As we have said before, this should include an overhaul of gender and family relations and intolerance of abuse within communities.
We must all acknowledge that crime prevention is not simply the business of government - the role of civil society is equally important. South Africa is fortunate to have a well-developed, vibrant, and organised civil society participating in the safety and security sector. FCS Unit will thus do well by inviting civil society to actively participate in the SAPS FCS Unit programmes, nationally. Programmes that would be run by the National FCS Unit across provinces, should then be tailored to local needs and circumstances, and should only be launched where there is a specific local need.
We must also be sure to take the FCS Units to Communities. We can have all the nice policies and programmes, but, if the communities do not know these programmes, they become useless. The Head of FCS Unit must also know that, the role and rights of victims are vital in addressing the effects of crime, so that they don’t fall into repeat victimisation.
For survivors to achieve this, the people delegated to help the survivors will have to imply a greater role in creating a crime-resistant community by being compassionate, diligent and dedicated. We are saying that, the people we task to develop and implement the working approach of government must be uniform cadres of public servants that are multi-skilled, sincerely passionate about community development, and who are able to deliver integrated services inter-departmentally. They must also be able to move seamlessly between the spheres of government as service delivery needs dictate. In this kind of work, there can be no 9am-4pm working hours.
We do believe that the FCS Units will not be just a safe haven for the survivors of these horrific crimes, but the different expertise from different departments will help find and address the root causes of crime and violence. As Police Leadership, we are then sending a pleading message to all delegated FCS Units officials: Your motivation must be premised upon the belief that individuals, families, and communities have the right to privacy, safety and human dignity, and that victims should play a more central role in the criminal justice process, so that they can heal effectively.
In conclusion, Ladies and Gentlemen, we want to re-emphasis the fact that, as Police are also launching the Provincial When Duty Calls Operation, government is responding to the calls of our people that the public want a more visible police force, patrolling their local area. We, as government will never make a grave mistake and underestimate the importance of this demand.
This operation reinforces this zeal. The Operation When Duty Calls in all Provinces, is building the public's trust and confidence and showing that police officers are visible and available, and that Police are always on communities side and keeping them safe. We want to encourage our Policewomen and men to continue doing sterling work in our quest to make South Africa a safer and a better place.
I thank you all.
