Safety, Mr Jerry Thibedi, during the provincial Anti-Police Killing Campaign
held at Matlosana Stadium, Klerksdorp, Sunday
25 June 2006.
May peace and goodwill be unto you! Khotso e be le lena!
May I also say this upfront that it is once again a day of mix feelings and
emotions as we are gathered here united as a front to remember our colleagues
who have passed on and those who died in the line of duty.
It is with sadness to announce to this gathering that just 48 hours ago;
this province has lost 14 teachers instantly in a single road accident outside
Lichtenburg yesterday.
This happened in the early hours of the morning (4am).
The information at my disposal is that the teachers, all of them women, died
instantly on impact when the hired minibus taxi they were travelling in
collided head-on with a truck just a few kilometres from Lichtenburg town from
the direction of Mafikeng.
They were, I am told travelling from Mafikeng to Madidi near Mabopane to
attend a funeral.
But instead of reaching their destination and going back to their families
and relatives in the same mood and condition we now have 14 more bodies to bury
and 14 families without their loved ones and young learners without mentors,
lost skilled educators that we so desperately need in this country and
province.
What is going on?
Is this a chilling reminder that we indeed live on borrowed times.
When will the time come when we can for once stop counting bodies? Bodies of
crime and victims of road accidents like the one I have just told you about and
also bodies of HIV/Aid related deaths.
Is this not the time that all of us need some divine intervention? Can we
only turn to God or some power that be superior to mankind for answers and
comfort in this difficult time?
Ladies and gentlemen, may we at this point all rise and observe a moment of
silence.
May their souls rest in peace.
Colleagues and friends, our mandate as the South African Police Service
(SAPS) involves the prevention, investigating and combating of crime in general
in order to ensure the safety of everyone within our borders.
The current strategic thrust for policing in our united democratic South
Africa which belongs to all of us is the reduction of crime by between seven
percent and ten percent annually.
We have not fared badly and I am still of the view that a war against crime
is not only the responsibility of the SAPS. It is the responsibility of the
society as a whole, men and women, young and old.
Once we can truly achieve and cement lasting partnerships built on solid
foundations of trust between police and the communities they serve, I do not
believe there would be a place to hide for criminals.
I do not believe we will again have to gather in numbers to mourn and
remember policemen and women who died in line of duty protecting you and me and
our families.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a supreme sacrifice!
If and only if we can succeed to get communities to say:
âNo to crime. No to criminals. No to the proceeds of crime.â
Every household to declare, âNo criminal in my houseâ be it my husband,
wife, son or daughter.
We would be able to wrap in no time police investigations into some of these
killings including unwarranted attacks on our policemen and women.
It is important to note the startling numbers involved here. I am reliably
informed that:
âBetween April of 2005 and April of this year (2006) North West lost in
total 87 members of its police force. Twelve of our men and women in blue I am
told died in the line of duty.â
They were either caught in the cross fire with criminals who live in our own
communities and sleep in our houses overnight.
Like I earlier indicated, Programme Director, some of the criminals involved
in these hideous acts are our own relatives and neighbours whom we give shelter
and keep watch on their behalf in case police pounce.
Surely civil society has a role to play in volunteering information that
could lead to the capture of murderers, rapists and crime syndicates.
Let us revive âOperation Mpimpi.â
Today it is very correct âGo Pimpa,â bagaetsho.
It is for this reason that early this year in February, we launched the
Letsema Campaign to rally communities to volunteer their services in an attempt
to amplify and drive home the massage of Safety Month.
That culture of volunteerism should be encouraged to continue in all our
communities to foster good relations between the police and communities and to
seal bonds created by various Community Police Forums (CPFs).
We need a united front to win the war against crime and to stop blaming the
police while we do not make an effort to make their task easy to apprehend the
criminals.
I must mention however that we have made grade strides as a country and
nation since our first democratic elections in 1994. So have our police towards
this daunting task, albeit the challenges.
That is why we do not talk of the South African Police (SAP). We speak about
the South African Police Services (SAPS) because it is a service we render to
our community rather than policing it.
Just eight days ago, Friday, 16 June, was Youth Day, marking the 30th
anniversary of Soweto Student Uprisings. The historical significance on that
day is common a knowledge.
The point I want to illustrate is who would have thought prior to 1994 that
we as leaders in the democratic South Africa and civil society, would assemble
and unite in song and in grief, side by side with policemen and women in
uniform, remembering their dead colleagues and in the same vein remembering the
casualties on 16 June 1976 and beyond.
Thirty years ago and beyond police would both be chasing and âsjambokingâ us
in the streets. Teargas would fill the air and many youths including innocent
people who happen just to pass by would be rounded up in police âcasppirsâ and
vans and thrown in jail.
Being declared a criminal by the unjust laws of the apartheid
government!
Apartheid police were enemies of the people they were supposed to serve but
the police in the new South Africa are there to provide a service help defend
our democracy and constitution.
They are part and parcel of the people, hence our hard working CPFs are in
place.
It is therefore a very sad observation that if indeed 12 or even more
policemen died in the line on duty in a particular time and period, we must ask
ourselves this important question:
âWhere was the community that aught to have protected them?â
I do not suggest communities should take the law in their own hands and hunt
down the suspects. But they must inform us. Communities must inform law
enforcement structures we have established.
The danger is you could break the law by your actions and be the one to be
arrested.
The most valuable help we need as police from our communities is
information.
Tell us where the criminal syndicates operate and hide; tell us the
whereabouts of the persons whom you know committed murder.
Tell us where the murder weapon is hidden and tell us where the body of
Constable Francis Rasuge is? And all those selling drugs to our innocent
learners at our schools?
Turning to the Rasuge case.
I have had the privilege to follow this case closely more so that it also
attracted huge media interest across the country.
Whenever I tell my colleagues in government that I am proud of our police
investigators, I always mention the success we had in the Rasuge case.
Success in that we secured a conviction in that we know now that the
27-year-old Rasuge was murdered and the culprit, William Nkuna is serving a
life sentence.
But this has not brought closure yet for the Rasuge family because the body
has not been found yet. They deserve to bury their loved one.
We deserve to bury our colleague in honour. We deserve that!
Surely, apart from Nkuna the murderer there must be somebody out there in
the community who has a clue about Rasugeâs body.
Why are you silent? O didimaletse eng?
In spite of your silence we as the police will leave no stone unturned; we
will not rest until we find that body no matter how long it takes.
I believe we in this country have a police service with the necessary skills
and capacity to effectively take the war against the criminals at any given
time.
But any effective strategy requires a good set of tactics for it work
because as members of the SAPS, we have to always be on our toes, never to be
out manoeuvred by criminals who also learn new tactics with the times to
achieve their deeds.
It is therefore imperative that in our case we believe that we have to
deploy our resources both human and material in such a way that such resources
become a well co-ordinated vehicle for service delivery to our people on the
ground.
Our men and women in blue should be aware by now that government has
envisaged a restructured police service, deemed necessary as a way forward to
better policing and improved services.
This would result among others using the local police stations as live wires
and nerve centres and ovens of service delivery.
It would not matter whether the local police station is situated in the
remotest rural area of our beautiful province, in the township or an up market
suburb.
Through this new initiative we will ensure that police community bond and
trust is enhanced, morale among the SAPS should also improve.
More so that the change I referred to above will not result in job losses
nor will it result in massive displacement of personnel but better utilisation
of scares human resources.
In short what this mean is:
More resources will be devolved to various police stations as part of the
station empowerment strategy.
This will result in the elimination of wasteful duplication, improved
service delivery on the ground, improved command and control of all resources,
improved interaction, communication and participation and a quicker response to
the needs of the communities.
This is our aim and objective.
In conclusion, Programme Director, to the families of all those policemen
and women who died in line of duty, your sons and daughters, husbands and wives
have sacrificed in their own way their lives protecting the citizens of this
country and the gains of our democracy.
They gave their own lives in order to safe and protect mine and your life.
They stood their ground, never blinked and never died as cowards. They will
remain our heroes worth all the honour bestowed on them.
We salute their supreme sacrifice!!
Ke a leboga. I thank you!
Issued by: Department of Transport, Roads and Community Safety, North West
Provincial Government
25 June 2006
Source: North West Provincial Government (http://www.nwpg.gov.za/)
