B Cele: KwaZulu-Natal Community Safety and Liaison Prov Budget Vote
2006/07

24 March 2006

As we continue to march further into the second decade of our democracy we
are conscious of our conviction of 'Defending the Weak: In our endeavour to
ensure equal rights for all in the criminal justice system one sees a picture
of a state that is experiencing a season of hope whilst struggling with the
ruins left by our apartheid past. Our transition into a democratic state
happened faster than the transition of our institutions; as a result we
inherited institutions and structures that were still operating using methods
of the old government. As a result of this, when one looks at our country our
Constitution, and policies one sees a democratic country while on the other
hand a different socio-economic picture emerges.

A picture where crime has a face, where justice has eyes, where the weakest
of our society are also the most vulnerable, where criminality is Black and
African in particular, where justice favours others and is blind to others.
This picture emerges from our painful past and constantly reminds us of the
long way we still need to go in transforming our society and our police
service. It is my conviction Mr Speaker that one day not far away we will live
in a South Africa/ a KwaZulu-Natal where never again will we see injustices of
the past perpetrated by those who have more power than others including the
domination of women by men. It is my conviction that we will live in a South
Africa where we will no longer witness the rape and murder of the weak in our
society, where we will not need to build towers around our houses in order to
feel safe. One day not far away we will all be safe not only because of what
statistics dictate but because we feel safe. Whilst we have developed
progressive legislation, this country, like any other country in the world,
continues to face the challenges of the increasing sophistication of organized
crime networks. These crime networks continue to undermine justice, but we will
also continue in the fight to create a safe environment for our future
generations. Indeed there is hope for "the Weak" Mr Speaker!

Safety should not become a dream but reality!

"From Data to Action" that was the theme of the recently hosted 8th World
Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion. Every day in Europe, over
2000 people die of injuries and 600 000 are treated daily in the outpatients
emergency treatment. This creates a huge human and financial burden on the
region. The entire global scenario on injury and violence is indeed shocking.
Allow me, Mr. Speaker to share a few startling facts with the house today
revealed by the World Health Organisation (WHO):
* every 40 seconds 1 person commits suicide somewhere in the world
* more than 540 adolescents and young adults die every day as a result of
interpersonal violence. Attached to this statistic, more than 20 of these
deaths occur each hour
* 1 in 4 women experience sexual abuse by an intimate partner in their
lifetime
* more than 800 000 people die every day as a direct result of violent
conflict: more than 30 of these deaths occur each hour
* 1 in 20 older people experience some form of abuse in their home.

South Africa is not short of any information on crime and crime prevention
but what are we doing with this information? Why is it then, with all this
information at our disposal, we have been unable to achieve ultimate peace,
safety and security. The answer lies in working closely with and listening to
the voice of the weak in the community who precisely need the law's protection
most. Too often in government we are popular for making our own voices heard on
this subject, but are we listening to the community Are we communicating with
the people? Do we just listen or do we actually hear what the community is
saying out there? Are we in touch with the communities' safety needs? These are
the questions that informed my departments deliberations when they crafted the
recently tabled strategic plan, performance plan and the 2006/07 budget.

Organisational growth and development

As we re-positioned the department to deliver on its core mandates during
the last financial year, the personnel arrangements changed dramatically. In
modern organisations, project teams are used to complement organisational
design. We departed from the traditional form of management in favour of a team
form in which there is multiple responsibility and accountability. This results
in shared decisions, shared results and the synthesising of knowledge, skills
and attitudes in a challenging field of practice. These quality circles will
break down organisational hierarchies. In today's fast-changing, information
driven, computer-facilitated and competitive economy, new paradigms for
management must be introduced to respond to the change and deliver new
approaches to effective, efficient service delivery by government. The
department has announced its policy to recruit and retain expertise on civilian
oversight. As such our human resource strength has been catapulted giving us
the much needed impetus to move to organisational growth and maturity. We are
now a fully functioning civilian oversight team with a strong work ethos and a
solid commitment to the culture of serving our communities.

Chairperson it is my pleasure to inform this Honourable house that all
vacant Senior Management posts have been filled. The line function managers
have all been appointed, except for one post, which will be filled soon. The
vacancy rate will be closed in the next two months when the department appoints
the bulk of administrative support personnel. From this it can be clearly
deduced that this department has given priority attention to appointing the
requisite service delivery personnel so that the new financial year will start
on a firm footing.

The representivity index in the department reveals the following:
* African: 67.66%
* White: 13.23
* Indian: 13.23%
* Coloured: 5.88

The department has exceeded the provincial norms for the economically active
population measured against the 2001 census.

In the budget speech last year I reported that I would promote gender
representivity within the department and in particular for women to occupy
senior positions. I am happy to report that within the department, 61% of all
posts are occupied by women and we have a total of 55% of women in management
positions. At senior management level, of the 13 Senior Managers appointed, 7
are female, giving women the majority of senior positions in the department to
a total of 54%. Our commitment to gender equality has been demonstrated not
just in word but in our deeds as well.

Sustainable development for crime prevention

Mr Speaker, there is a popular notion all over the world that with
development comes crime. In a developing country, safety is a key denominator
in any programme for sustainable development and all government policies and
actions should be supportive in creating environments conducive to crime
prevention.

Firearm control

Even more damning is the evidence that suggests that the leading cause of
violence-related deaths in South Africa is gunshot injuries 46% to be precise.
Of the 6 167 firearm related deaths recorded in 2004, 86% were
violence-related, 13% were suicides and less than 1% were accidental. The
victims in this category were mostly in the 25-29 year age group. Despite these
statistics we continue to harbour illegal weapons in our homes and in our
communities. A firearm in a home, I am now illustrating by virtue of scientific
evidence, is a lethal combination of a violence-related death in the most
dangerous zone the home. As we usher in the new Firearms Control Act, our
message to the people of KwaZulu-Natal is to plead with you to co-operate with
the law enforcement structures and hand in the illegal firearms. Whilst the new
Firearms Control Act has met with much debate, I am pleased to note that this
piece of legislation has the broad support of the majority of the law-abiding
citizens of this country. The strict implementation of this Act will serve to
rid our province of an important crime-generating factor and this department
will playa major role in ensuring that this programme of government is
successfully implemented.

Safety is not just a universal concern, it is a universal responsibility.
The World Health (WHO) preaches that all human beings have an equal right to
health and safety. It has issued a challenge to all politicians and
decision-makers at all government levels to ensure that all people have an
equal opportunity to live and work in safe communities. Not a few weeks ago, my
department held a ground-breaking conference on Local Crime Prevention. The
theme was "Making Local Government Champions of Community Safety': Most
communities in developed and developing countries that have taken the lead in
driving community actions for safety have been very successful. The
relationship between those communities and the police has improved
significantly. The interaction of local people who know and understand their
challenges, opportunities, availability of resources, socio-economic conditions
and cultural obligations, strengthens the ability to plan and deliver safer
communities. Through a study visit conducted by direction of our Honourable
Premier to London, Dublin and Belfast in September 2005, we witnessed how
communities can destroy each other and how communities can work together for
peace and safety.

Belfast is still divided using religious and political grounds and children
learn not what is common to them but what their differences are. They walk on
opposite sides of the road and spit at one another from the primary school
level. The adults are dividing the generations of the future. In London
however, the Municipal Police Services have joined hands with the community to
employ the services of Community Liaison Officers whose responsibility it is to
focus on improving safety from a social crime prevention perspective. Whilst
these Community Liaison Officers act as deterrents to potential criminals or
petty offenders, they at the same time keep a check on neighbourhood decay,
promote the enforcement of municipal bylaws, and encourage children to respect
the law, assist parents with problem-oriented children and also act as
community intelligence to support the law enforcement officers.

This generates employment and promotes nobility of the jobs of law
enforcement officers at the same time. Currently, this department is exploring
the legal imperatives surrounding the establishment of such a measure. The
Western Cape is presently piloting the Bambanane Project which has similar
imperatives and it is a successful programme. In South Africa and in
KwaZulu-Natal in particular, we have much to be grateful for. We are not in a
constant state of threat from terrorism. The statistics are saying that our
streets are relatively safe our shopping malls are safe. It is our homes that
are unsafe. It is true that we unfortunately still look at crime from an
old-fashioned and traditional approach. We attribute the high crime levels to
police inaction and police ineffectiveness. Mr Speaker, in my view, crime is
generated by us, in our homes and then the problem is left for others to clean
up. Let me support my elementary view with that of some of the experts.

The Medical Research Council of University of South Africa (UNISA) reveals
that the most dangerous zone for people in South Africa, particularly women, is
at home. Criminals come from our homes. They reflect our distorted value
system, which needs to be revisited and reconstructed. This cannot be achieved
without collective efforts of the police families. Governments must foster an
environment supportive of crime prevention even if we are just building houses
or clinics or roads or schools. There can be no development project, which does
not take into account how to design crime out instead of designing crime in.
Environmental design is key to crime prevention. There is indeed much hope and
support encountered by our department through its interaction with
municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal Most municipalities have accepted the need to
have a crime prevention focus built into their Integrated Development Plans
(IDPs) and we are keen on building the capacity of local councils to establish
community safety plans. An LED or Local Economic Development Plan is not
complete without an accompanying safety plan and therefore I repeat with
development comes crime. The challenge lies in effective planning and
partnerships, which anticipate the challenges and form a synergistic bond to
wipe out crime before it even rises beyond proportion.

Progress in the transformation of the South African Police Service
(SAPS)

The Department of Community Safety and Liaison recently partnered with the
Ethekwini Municipality to host the International Association of Chiefs of
Police (IACP) Sub Sahara Conference on Policing in Durban from 26-28 March
2006. The theme of the conference was "The Challenges of policing in a
Democracy”. Our Constitution Mr Speaker that is hailed as one of the best in
the world reflects a government or a state that is based on the will of the
people and our policies do affirm that we are indeed a democratic society. This
calls upon a new consciousness in policing and strengthens our persistent
commitment to the transformation of policing to the point where it is
delivering the best possible service under the ever-changing dimensions of a
crime environment. This transformation agenda amongst other things, seeks to
ensure that the weak of our society are protected and the rule of law prevails.
This new consciousness forces us to look beyond our policy statements and
beyond statistics, but deal directly with public perceptions of the prevalence
of crime incidents. This we must do bearing in mind that crime is a national as
well as a global challenge, which we all need to collectively tackle and not
treat it as a numbers game. The SAPS in KwaZulu Natal have made huge strides in
breaking organised crime networks, particularly drug syndicates in the last 18
months. This would not have been possible if cooperation in terms of
intelligence and resources was lacking. This approach is a true reflection of
the spirit of cooperative governance and innovation in the South African Police
Service.
Central to our challenges is communicating a strong message to those who
disgrace the police service by abusing their positions. In fact, the national
Department of Safety and Security is currently putting in measures to expedite
and conclude the thousands of disciplinary cases against officers.

The numbers of police stations have grown from 183 to 186 in the province.
The re-zoning exercise, which coincides with municipal demarcation, will also
change the current policing geographic arrangements from 7 areas to 22 zones,
thereby improving management of officers on the ground. As KwaZulu-Natal (KZN)
becomes a Tourist attraction there is a great need to maximise our efforts in
fighting crime especially in and around areas visited by tourists, our
cooperation with the Department of Arts, Tourism and Culture has proven
fruitful in this regard.

Consolidating police oversight

The 2006/07 financial year marks a new era for the department, in that the
substantial increase in departmental budget and increased personnel capacity
over previous years will allow it to begin to truly provincialism its service
delivery. The Department believes that the quality of its oversight role will
improve tremendously as a result of these factors strengthened by the
consolidation of the department's Head office in Pietermaritzburg and the
implementing of a well co-ordinated and scientifically driven monitoring
methodology. Monitoring and Evaluation forms the cornerstone of Civilian
Oversight and the backbone of much of the Department's work. The strategic
focus of the department is to evaluate police service delivery and compliance
with national policy standards and make recommendations for redress where
required. Demand is driven by community needs, changing crime patterns, and the
level of complaints received. In line with its increased budget, the strategic
plan for the 2005-10 periods reflects:
* an expanded monitoring role to cover specialist SAPS units with a special
emphasis on evaluating Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences
(FCS) Units
* introduction of the monitoring of municipal police, the performance of the
SAPS provincial office, and a focus on inefficiencies and abuses in respect of
SAPS operational systems (e.g. its Crime Administration System)
* introduction of methods for assessing visible policing operations
* a move towards using scientifically-determined methodology (e.g. sampling
public opinion through research surveys and "exit polls") to identify
problematic areas for specific trouble-shooting interventions
* engaging other statutory bodies such as the Independent Complaints
Directorate (RCD) to ensure that overlapping areas of responsibility are more
closely aligned, duplication of effort is minimized and complementary skills
and mandates are used more effectively. In terms of its increased capacity, the
department will now have seven Service Monitors at its disposal, with each
service monitor assigned a policing area under their jurisdiction. Using the
National Station Evaluation Tool, the Department will intensify its scrutiny of
several high-priority areas. These include:
* identifying under-resourced stations, focusing on their institutional
capacity in relation to the size of community served
* evaluating the accessibility of stations, given that rural police stations in
particular, often serve very spatially scattered settlement areas
* assessing the implementation of the SAPS Service Charter to promote a
service-cantered culture, as enshrined in the Batho Pele Principles
*evaluating the efficiency of stations, focusing on police responsiveness,
feedback to crime victims, absenteeism rates, disciplinary record, distribution
of resources, and routine updating of police registers
* determining the quality of investigations and detective work, by focusing on
what bottlenecks may be hindering effective case management
* assessing the level of police expertise, particularly in terms of their
understanding and application of national policies, to uncover any training or
skills gaps
* monitoring the implementation of transformation, by evaluating compliance
with national demographic and gender equity targets
* assessing the "victim friendliness" of stations, focusing on the secondary
trauma victims, particularly of domestic and/or sexual abuse. Generally, the
secondary abuse is the result of social attitudes within these institutions
that have not been challenged through sensitivity training and the provision of
skilled persons to assist victims
* aligned to this point, assessing the willingness and institutional capacity
of each station to implement protective rights for Vulnerable Groups, as
enshrined in the Domestic Violence Act, Child Care Act, Family Violence Act,
Victims Charter, etc.

To this effect, the Department hopes to optimise its strategic leadership
function over the SAPS in the province to address shortcomings in police
service delivery. Provincial policing needs and priorities should inform, and
give strategic direction to, SAPS' operations. For this reason, the Department
is looking to engage SAPS in co-determining their operational plans, by
institutionalising regular and meaningful bi-Laterals with provincial
management. It is hoped that more strategic engagement with SAPS will result in
Police Improvement Plans (PIPs) at station level with agreed upon
implementation time frames that the Department can hold SAPS accountable for.
The Department's oversight role demands advanced technology for information
storage. An automated data capturing system will assist the Department to
store, process and update information records and enable it to generate
"intelligence-on-demand" on policing in the province at both macro and
micro-level.

Complaint Management Directorate

In 2005 the Department embarked on expanding this component from being a
Complaints desk to a Complaints Management Directorate. A Manager and three
Complaints Monitors have been employed to address complaints against the
police. The pattern and trend of complaints reveals that 70% of the complaints
relate to the poor investigation of cases by SAPS Detective Units while 30%
relates to the failure of Police Stations to respond timorously this forces the
Department to seek Information Technology solutions in collecting and
processing large volumes of information. An automated Complaints Management
System (CMS) will be introduced in order to effectively manage and expedite the
processing of complaints. Complaints, which fall within the mandates of other
stakeholders such as the Independent Complaints Directorate (lCD), the Public
Protector, the Human Right Commission, Law Society, Prosecuting Authority and
Judicial Authority, get channelled to the relevant authorities. Some of the
challenges faced by SAPS are as follows:
* investigators are overloaded with dockets, which often compromise the quality
of investigation of cases
* the scenes of crime are not timously protected which result in important
evidence being destroyed
* suspects are acquitted in court because physical clues were destroyed at the
scene or not handled properly
* conviction rate is low since cases are forwarded to court without sufficient
evidence and the prosecution is declining to prosecute on those cases
* investigators are not furnishing feedback to complainants with regard to
their cases
* police stations are still not responding timeously to community emergency
complaints.
* SAPS members always complain of not having vehicles at the Community Service
Centres to attend to community calls and sometimes they say they have one
vehicle which is out attending to other complaints.

On the part of the community some of the challenges are as follows:
* complainants have high expectations of the police after lodging cases with
the police. They expect the police to arrest without sufficient evidence or
information which empowers the police to act
* the complainants lack knowledge of certain procedures relevant to the justice
system which govern arrests, prosecutions and the conviction of suspects
* complainants and suspects don't understand the right to bail applications.
The release on bail of suspects by the court causes conflict between the police
and the community
* complainants do not understand why some cases get withdrawn and they lack
information as to what is really meant when cases get withdrawn due to
insufficient evidence, which can lead to prosecution.

To address these very evident challenges the department will direct
educational programs targeted at both the police and the community promoting
understanding of the law and respect for the rights to swift justice. The new
legislation, which will be released, will also be converted into common
knowledge through an extensive communication plan for the public.

Social crime prevention

Our commitment in realising the Freedom Charter's ideal of a South Africa
that is equal still persists Mr Speaker. We uphold this ideal Mr. Speaker by
giving expression to our core constructional values of equal rights and human
dignity. As a government that governs from the basis of the 'People's Document"
the Freedom Charter, upon whose ideals or Constitution is based, we cannot
ignore the participation of our citizens in making this country and this
province a safe one for all, particularly the weak.

Therefore 2006/07 shall be the year of meaningful citizen participation in
Community Safety. Participation will enable this Department to delve deeper
into some of the most fundamental questions that get asked by the ordinary
people on the street such as why stolen goods are creating flourishing markets,
why do so many still think that crime fighting begins and ends with the police,
and especially why so many children and women are still abused and raped and
many others. This speaks directly to the value of multi-agency efforts, the
targeting of vulnerable groups, and the importance of a Community Safety
Network. Collaboration with Local Government in terms of including safety plans
in IDPs would also be ideal.

The Development of an Anti-drug Strategy

The sustainability of our economy and democracy lies with our youth Mr
Speaker, however the usage of drugs amongst teenagers has reached epidemic
proportions. South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence
(SANCA) (Durban), for example, reports that one in three persons being treated
for addiction in their facilities are teenagers. The development of an
Integrated Strategy on Teenage Drug Abuse supported by multi-agency
partnerships will be a priority in order to ensure that an issue pertaining to
teenagers’ abuse of drugs is effectively and efficiently dealt with.

Youth development at district level

Honourable members, youth are the leaders of tomorrow and have a key role to
play in social crime prevention. In the next financial year I would like to see
youth involved in issues pertaining to them. We therefore need to find ways to
involve youth in designing and planning programmes. This introduces a need for
District and Municipal Youth Co-ordinators to be trained in the use of crime
prevention toolkit, to enable them to draw up safety audits in their areas.
They will also be incorporated into the KwaZulu-Natal Integrated Youth Crime
Prevention Committee (KIYCPC). Working with the Department of Education, this
department is to assist in the development and implementation of programs
targeting high-risk schools in the province. All programs shall focus on
building the capacity of the school's safety structure: its Discipline, Safety
and Security Committee. This is a bold move towards targeting youth in schools
and improving school safety.

Involvement of faith based organisation

The Department will encourage the involvement of faith-based organisations
in community safety efforts. Since crime is now viewed as an epidemic, which
requires all citizens to work together, the department has developed a
multi-faith approach in supporting crime prevention initiatives. We look
forward to the benefits that would be derived out of this intervention.

Capacitating Amakhosi to play a more prominent community safety role

Mr Speaker it has come to our attention that some of Amakhosi do try cases
that do not fall within their competence. In the interest of defending the weak
we have embarked on a capacity-building programme for Amakhosi. This entails
training 286 Amakhosi to enable them to be pro- active in crime prevention. We
have approached the Department of Traditional Affairs in order to make this a
joint initiative. This will go a long way towards ensuring rural safety for the
community.

Establishing Community Safety to Lead District Community Safety
Efforts
My department is to assist district municipalities in establishing Community
Safety Fora, which are to act as the coordination centre of the Community
Safety Network, bringing together government and citizen's in identifying local
safety needs and responding to them, particularly through the safety planning
process. Underpinning the work of my department shall be ongoing research into
crime priorities, the formulation of new strategies, and the production of
capacity programs and tools to assist government and its participating
citizen's in their efforts to address community safety needs.

Community policing

In order to promote corporative governance and in an effort to integrate
provincial effort towards focused service delivery, the department is in the
process of piloting Community Safety Forums (CSFs) within the most needy areas
in the province. Our recently held conference on Community Safety has given
rise to collective support from all stakeholders towards creating these
structures. Already, the Eastern Cape, Gauteng and Western Cape have piloted
Community Safety Forums. These CSFs will ensure that all role-players in the
Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster work together to address the
challenges of public safety. Community policing structures will be given
significant departmental support, which will promote their ability to promote
crime prevention and peacekeeping in the respective communities they serve.

Communities in Dialogue Programme

The Communities in Dialogue programme as directed by the Honourable Premier
in his State of the Province Address in February 2006 will also reside under
our community-policing directorate, which has already begun to actively deal
with, conflict between and among communities. The demand has been so great that
already the department has conducted three interventions in different areas.
Provincial departments who are faced with conflict in communities where they
deliver services will resort to this department for relief. This is a labour
and cost intensive programme and will place a serious burden on the
department's resources. However, the department will develop the necessary
expertise to ensure the success of this programme.

Victims empowerment

Mr Speaker, our conviction that we shall 'Defend the Weak' constantly drives
us in ensuring that equality within the justice system prevails and, that the
quality of lives of our people is improved. This conviction has been expressed
through the opening of this directorate, whose main objective is to ensure that
victims of all crimes are indeed protected and supported. This conviction has
further found expression in the approval of the Victims Charter by National
Cabinet in November 2004. As part of supporting the implementation and creating
public awareness of the Victims Charter we have produced in IsiZulu and in
English 183 Charters for display in Community Service Centres. We have further
produced Z-cards in IsiZulu and English to this effect and these are being
distributed to the public. Although the wheels of change move slowly, there is
light at the end of the tunnel that we will one day experience justice for
all.

According to the National Crime Prevention Strategy, rape, domestic violence
and crimes against women and children, requires a special focus because of
their prevalence and their negative impact on society as a whole. Our Province
has reported a remarkable increase in these crimes during the past financial
year. With this in mind, a number of Victim Support Centres have been opened in
the whole country, some of which are attached to police stations and others
managed by non-governmental organizations. An Assessment Tool has been
developed and the department has already begun to assess the establishment and
existence of these facilities at 120 police stations and will continue to
assess them with a view to establish their basic needs. Mr Speaker, it gives me
pleasure to announce that business has promised to work closely with us in
providing support to these centres.

Educational programmes

Mr. Speaker while there are many positive developments around the country,
there are still challenges that require combined efforts of all stakeholders to
see to the complete eradication of domestic violence. I have pleasure to
announce that in an endeavour to eradicate family violence and other forms of
abuse in a family setting; this department has harnessed the power of both
print and electronic media and produced a radio drama as an initiative towards
complete eradication of family related violence in support of the 16 days of
Activism for No Violence against Women and Children. In the pipeline is the
production of Videotape/DVD, which will be utilized to sensitise all members of
society about the problems of abuse inherent in our societies. A publication I
poster on Domestic Violence was developed and distributed throughout the
province. Also in the pipelines are educational programmes in schools in
partnership with other stakeholders in support of Child Protection Week,
International Children's Day and National Children's Day.

Mr Speaker, Sir, it gives me great pleasure to announce to this house our
intention to form partnerships with universities and unemployed graduates in
the psychology field to assist in the counselling and debriefing at Trauma
Centres, thus enabling them to put to good use their knowledge. In line with
the PGDS strategy to normalise peace and safety, the department is working
closely with the department of Social Welfare to deal with legal placement of
the children, assisting the centre to get birth certificates for the children
and to arrange for subsidy payments.

Gender

Mr. Speaker, last year I reported that training and assistance was available
to every district in this province for the training of their Gender
Co-ordinators to enable them to rollout the Women Safety Audit in all municipal
areas. To this end I have pleasure to report that we have developed a training
manual and have to date trained four district municipalities and we will be
training remaining Gender Co-ordinators and thereafter provide them with
support to rollout the audits to all local municipalities.

HIV/AIDS

The Department of Community Safety and Liaison is committed to employee
assistance programmes with regards to HIV/AIDS. This initiative will be
informed by the broader Health Department policy and initiatives. It is
envisaged that a dedicated budget for this sub programme will be set side so as
to fight the scourge. SAPS in KZN alone has a budget of R500 000 in place to
fight this scourge. This budget is insufficient, particularly when one takes
into cognisance the high prevalence of this disease.

Challenges

The budget of the department is indeed a small commitment towards a
provincial priority of peace, safety and security and must increase in order
for significant impact to be made. The department is often approached by local
community structures which are willing to assist with project implementation
but due to limited resources, it is unable to fund their activities. Youth must
be targeted in crime prevention programmes as well as skills development in
order to create a generation of law-abiding, successful and resourceful adults.
The department plans to establish a comprehensive youth programme which will be
implemented through partnerships with local municipalities.

The ever-increasing rate of social fabric crimes against women and children
and the dearth of services for victims, presents a grim picture. Here the
department intends to do groundbreaking work with the police and NGO's in order
to develop a programmatic response to victim empowerment.

Conclusion

Mr Speaker, I would like to pass my sincerest appreciation to:
* the Head of my Department, Ms Yasmin Bacus, her new management team and all
the staff in the department
* office of the MEC
* the South African Police Service, KwaZulu-Natal
* the Portfolio Committee on Community Safety and Liaison (KwaZulu Natal
Legislature)
* the leadership and members of Community Police Forums
* stakeholders and partners in crime prevention
* members of the community
* members of the media

Your support and co-operation with our department over the last year was the
reason for our significant growth and development. We look forward to you
continuously holding us accountable for the services we commit to provide to
the people of KwaZulu-Natal.

“Safety should not be a dream but a reality which we collectively work
towards”

Issued by: Department of Community Safety, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial
Government
24 March 2006