Deputy Minister of Police, Ms Makhotso Sotyu;
Deputy National Commissioner, Lieutenant General Masemola;
All SAPS Senior Management present;
Representatives from the Provincial CPF Board, Business, Civic Organizations and Youth formations present;
Community of Lamberts Bay and surrounding areas;
Distinguished guests;
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen.
The current government, under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma, has identified five key priorities and amongst them is the issue of fighting crime and the causes of crime.
Amongst our priorities in addressing crime, we took a decision to new build police stations, particularly in areas which had been neglected in the past. Once we have built these structures the next fundamental goal is to provide our police officers with the requisite resources to enable them to succeed in fighting crime.
It is against this background that as the police leadership and management we are interacting with you as the community of Lamberts Bay. More importantly as we officially hand over the Lamberts Bay Police Station to you. This handover is a significant step that demonstrates a commitment by the ANC-led government, of ensuring that South Africans are and feel safe.
We equally appreciate efforts that have been taken by this community to partner with the police in fighting and reducing crime. You could have chosen to become arm-chair critics towards the police but instead you took proactive steps, including supporting and working with police. We appreciate such cooperation and urge you to continue to do more because the challenges are still enormous.
One of the crucial challenges is the issue of drugs. Young people, particularly in the Western Cape, are negatively affected by drugs and often times; blame is apportioned to the police to deal with this challenge. It cannot be police duty to raise young people in a moral and upright manner, which is the role of parents and guardians within communities.
We therefore make a clarion call for a multifaceted approach in dealing with drugs, particularly around this province. Addiction comes with a big price tag – that at the end it will cost your life. The effects these drugs have on our society are dreadful. Others turn to prostitution and live tragic and tainted lives, almost inevitably die young.
We urge you as the youth, not to listen to people who want to destroy your lives by telling you that when you feel that you cannot cope with life’s challenges, take drugs to make the problem go away. However tempting it may be, using drugs to take a break from reality will not make your problems disappear or make life better.
If you feel that things are spiraling out of control and you are overwhelmed by problems, seek real help from someone who cares. People who try to sell you drugs are not interested in your well-being. The effects of drug abuse are not restricted to the drug abuser but spill over to family, friends and society.
We urge you as the community of Lamberts Bay to help police get rid of any drug lords. We cannot allow our communities to be ruled by these selfish criminals. We will not allow our streets to be turned into little mafia empires by a few heartless scoundrels. The only people who legitimately govern in this area must be constitutionally elected councilors who are in good standing with the society they serve.
Over the past three years, we have worked towards ensuring that we review and strengthen our laws to favour citizens while depriving and dealing a blow to criminals. Whilst the rights of all citizens need to be protected as entrenched in our Constitution, rights of criminals must not supersede those of law abiding citizens.
The re-introduction of our Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences units throughout the country over the last financial year provides us with a platform on which to ensure crimes against women and children are adequately addressed by the police. It also speaks to our resolve to fight crimes and abuse against the vulnerable members in society.
As the Minister, I have also tasked the police to also target those cowards who rape women, the elderly as well as children. However, it is only through the participation of communities and partnerships with police that this form of crime will be eradicated. We urge you as residents not to shield these criminals but expose and report them. Whether it is your uncle, your father, your relative, it does not matter but break the silence.
We would further like to utilise this occasion to also caution against some members of society who often take the law into their own hands, particularly in this (Western Cape) province. Such criminal actions and disturbing incidents around mob justice or necklacing are unjustifiable. Let me be forthright about this: those who commit such acts with face the wrath of the police. No amount of reasoning can justify commission of crime on crime.
Again, the perpetrators of such acts are often perceived as heroes by those who witness such barbaric killings, well, as the police we will hunt and arrest these ‘heroes’ because there is nothing heroic when you burn and kill people. We have strengthened oversight on police and if residents are unhappy about any policing service delivery, there are proper channels to be followed.
That is why we advocate that society must not take the law into their hands. No matter your anger, we will not tolerate kangaroo courts. Your task is to report these thugs to the police and in turn they must apprehend these scoundrels. Let this police station bring an end to this trend. It must become a house of pain to these heartless criminals and represent hope to any crime victim.
We also urge you to support our campaign against police killings. Any nation that kills it police officers is doomed. With your helps, we shall end the killing of our police officers. We shall amongst others continuously train our police officers and ensure that they take precautionary measures such as bullet proof vests.
As you may be aware, government has now passed the Second Hand Goods Act which criminalises the buyer and the seller of stolen goods. We therefore call upon all law-abiding citizens to desist from buying stolen goods. In the past any buyer or seller found with stolen goods faced a 10 months jail term. To demonstrate our seriousness in punishing those who commit such crimes, we have now increased the conviction period, to a maximum of 10 years in jail.
We have seen that the impact of urbanisation, unemployment, poverty, growing material needs, alcohol and substance abuse are among the conditions that contribute to socially determined contact crimes. That is why it is incumbent upon the Western Cape government to prioritise and address these socio-economic challenges, including providing adequate houses.
We are also aware the crime tends to be displaced and hence we cannot allocate resources to cities and neglect rural areas. We view the safety and security of rural communities in South Africa as a priority.
Rural police stations are often isolated and responsible to police vast areas. The extent and high levels of poverty and unemployment within rural communities create a particular challenge to policing. Inadequate response to the needs of rural communities and resource constraints hamper the rendering of effective policing in many rural areas.
The seriousness of continued acts of violence against rural communities, as well as the high levels of stock theft requires that a concerted effort by farmers, rural communities, farm workers and the police to combat this scourge is intensified. The rural safety plan that we are currently implementing speaks to this challenge. But the plan can only succeed if you, as society partner with us.
To the station commander and management of this police station, we urge you to respect victims of crime and assist them with courtesy, respect and sensitivity. The treatment police give to people who visit police stations in search of some help leaves lasting impressions not only about the particular station, but about the SAPS as a whole.
As the residents, keep an eye on the performance of the police officers here. By so saying we do not imply that you must destructively criticize them, where they are lacking in service delivery, please feel free to bring this to the Office of the Minister. You can do this directly with me. Equally, in areas where they are performing well, we would expect you to give them a pat on the back and do tell these successes.
The success or failure of this police station is dependent upon an effective partnership between the police and this community. And we are confident that you will ensure that it succeeds.
I thank you.
