Salutation
Programme Director,
Fellow Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Representatives of the South African Police Service (SAPS),
Chairperson of Business against Crime,
Representatives of various community organisations,
Representatives of business,
Invited guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I am honoured to join you at this Crime Summit as I believe your presence lends weight in the fight against crime. Your presence confirms our long-held belief that we need all social partners to deal with crime decisively.
We have gathered here to share collective action plans. Our resolves united in private-public partnerships (PPP) have to be practical and bring about harmonisation in our initiatives.
I believe by so doing, we will then be able to leave no space for criminals to operate as they thrive on our differences. A multi-stakeholder approach that involves business, all levels of government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and community organisations is the most effective approach to stem the tide of crime and criminality in all its forms.
I am informed the main purpose of this Service Delivery Improvement Crime Summit is to:
- consolidate the existing operational partnership between the SAPS and the Safety and Security Department
- explore the new operational partnership opportunities with identified key role-players
- come up with a stakeholder communication strategy to ensure structured and consistent engagements with partners and stakeholders
- build a measurable accountability system between partners.
Programme director,
In my estimation, this crime Lekgotla is tasked necessarily with, identifying what exists and works in the fight against crime and classifies what needs further organisational support and tightening.
There are still many challenges in areas of crime intelligence and this sector still needs to be strengthened; we have a need for highly skilled personnel in this unit, and to recruit advanced skills expertise of detecting crime.
The current efforts to recruit and train science students into forensic science are a very welcome development in the light of the skills shortage in the country.
Our brave and dedicated policemen and policewomen need an enabling infrastructure that focuses on training and development so that they improve what we expect of them in the areas of visible policing, crime prevention, sector policing, and crime detection. The fact of the matter is that contact crimes that consist of murder, rape, indecent assault and common robbery have shown a decrease.
I wish to commend the interventions made by the Safety and Security Ministry in the "redeployment of more and better resources to the various police stations in the crime where crime fighting actually happens."
As reported previously, more than 14 000 "police members were deployed to 606 stations (and that) some of the stations received allocations of reservists who are a force-multiplier to the police."
Ladies and gentlemen,
In their tangible support, I thank Business against Crime, the private security industry and other associations for contributing material and human resources.
Your active support makes a significant difference to creating a crime-free South Africa where our people, in rural and urban areas can live free from abuse, violence or threats of violence.
I also want to welcome and thank civil society organisations. We are aware how hard and steadfast these non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community based organisations (CBOs) have worked as they engage in community outreach projects and initiatives to counter the negative effects of drugs and alcohol abuse.
To these community organisations, we acknowledge the thankless efforts they make to promote values of respect for life, addressing the link between youth and crime, and assisting in offender re-integration.
Programme director,
We value these partnerships with Community Policing Forums and Neighbourhood Watch as we are convinced they need to be revamped to continue being a link between the police and community.
I honestly wish that we could duplicate all over South Africa community campaigns like Against Crime Together (ACT), Take Charge and Bambanani initiatives.
It is this kind of partnership, based on trust and mutual respect that enhance "Deepening Partnerships Against Crime".
I mention this especially since this is a time of the 16 Days of Activism Campaign of No Violence against Women and Children. Social crime is still a major challenge and we hope through this campaign we urge women and children to name and shame the perpetrators who consist of fathers, relatives and husbands.
This shows that the focus is not on what the police alone are doing, but on what all of us as ordinary men and women are doing to combat crime. What might look like a simple task of anonymous reporting of crime goes a long way in rendering safe and secure communities, so we must always be vigilant and report crime.
When we talk about crime prevention, it begins with the straightforward but effective activities that include:
- visible policing
- public education
- combating easy access to drugs and alcohol
- parenting and peace in the home.
As government, we are encouraged that there has been a steady decline in fraud and our anti-corruption strategies have started to bite hard against criminals. However, we remain concerned that there has not been a drastic decrease in crime.
It explains why we are sharpening our legislations to confront organised crime. Our justice system is sending those who are committing violent crimes to prison in ever-increasing numbers. The Jeppe Massacre remains a fresh example of the 'gloves off' attitude towards violent crimes.
At the end of the day, we should bear in mind that our families, communities and South Africa insist and demand of us that we move beyond strategising to action plans and policy to action programmes.
We cannot sit and pontificate when we are faced with unacceptable levels of violent and organised crime. For example, commendable efforts have been mounted to combat troika crimes of ATM bombings, car-hijacking and house robberies.
Furthermore, I am informed that there are pressing matters that need to be addressed for us to effectively improve service delivery.
Recently the Safety and Security Ministry flagged several issues that ought to be addressed and improved to enhance our efforts at crime prevention and combating. They include:
- boosting the morale of the police as continuous negative reports about them erode their morale
- improving the material conditions of the police
- rooting out corruption among the police
- improving relations between the police and the communities.
These and many other efforts, even those that do not come directly from within safety and security, will contribute a great deal in fighting crime, particularly those in the social sector.
Ladies and gentlemen,
After all, our social contract with the people is not on open terms!
We also remain aware of the socio-economic conditions that foster and incubate opportunities for crime. As we approach the renewal of the mandate given to this third democratic government in 2004, and as we approach the 2009 general elections, we should do so aware of the work that needs to be done.
One of the mandates entrusted upon us was to ensure that we minimise the conditions that lead to crime. This is one reason we have invested so much in education and skills development, and also why we deem it critical to empower our young citizens through Early Childhood Development (ECD).
These initiatives are ways of ensuring that the battle against crime is confronted at all levels. Our social security network to the poor, the weak and vulnerable is a way in which the state maintains the role of protecting those who cannot defend themselves against the global financial crisis that threatens food security, high inflation, and declining stocks.
We also have to increase social sector investment, where we invest in safe environments for our children to grow up in secure places. We are also committed to providing sustainable human settlements, where the layout of the houses does not only conform to good environmental guidelines, but also remove the many dark alleys that harbour criminals.
Chairperson,
Finally, I am confident that this Crime Summit will come up with practical suggestions. Criminals try by all means to be a step ahead of law enforcement agencies but it is our responsibility to render them immobile through our strategies that we implement collectively.
I want to assure all of us gathered here that this country is on top of the challenge of crime. Our justice system will be continually revamped in the interest of beefing up our fight against crime.
Furthermore, the various efforts and programs that we are mounting towards 2010 World Cup are not only meant for the soccer tournament, the police that we are recruiting and training will be part of our structures even beyond 2010.
I wish you much continued success in all your deliberations and in assisting to make South Africa crime-free.
Thank you.
