Western Cape MEC for Social Development, Mr A Fritz;
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ms A Van Wyk;
Western Cape SAPS Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General A Lamoer;
Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Community Safety, Mr M Wiley;
All SAPS Lieutenant Generals and Senior Management present;
Cluster Community Policing Forum Chairperson, Mr M Jacobs;
Representatives from the Business, Civic structures and Youth formations;
Community of Lentegeur 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 fighting the causes of crime.
Amongst our priorities in addressing crime, we took a decision to build new police stations, particularly in areas, which had been neglected in the past. Once police stations are built the next fundamental goal is to equip police officers with the requisite resources to enable them to crime fight effectively.
In the Western Cape where gang violence and drug abuse are prevalent, there is a need to continue to build police stations. Equally, there is a continuous effort to strengthen police-community relations because in our view community policing is the central plank towards effective policing.
We have pointed that what we are confronted with in this province is a 200 year old deep-seated legacy that cannot be eradicated by police alone. It is a challenge that cuts across different communities and races. For this reason, this challenge requires a multi-faceted approach.
To this end, we are currently implementing a Gang Combating Strategy that is designed to both combat gang violence as well as eliminate the criminal economy of these gangs. Under the auspices of Operation Combat, which started in July last year the impact has resulted in the stabilisation of various communities around the Western Cape including Lavender Hill, Grassy Park, Hanover Park and Manenberg. We shall ensure the same stability here in Lentegeur.
This is an integrated strategy and what this means is that it incorporates various pillars, such as visible policing, investigations, crime information management and importantly, the support and involvement of communities. The opening of this police station will definitely help our crusade in this regard.
We have noted that the age of drug users is becoming younger and younger. The abuse of drugs leads to high absenteeism and increases in school dropout rates at local schools. Many of the young people referred to drug rehabilitation centres often relapse on return to the area as a result of lack of support structures and the easy availability of drugs.
We also need social partners, parents, NGOs, faith-based organisations to help us deal with social factors such as substance abuse, absenteeism and drop out from schools. This affirms what I have been emphasising, that we need a multi-faceted approach that involves everybody because some of these functions cannot be apportioned solely to police.
Government’s response to this challenge is a multi-disciplinary, multi governmental level approach. The approach is based on an integrated framework which includes ensuring that technical task teams are established involving different government departments.
Let us, together, rid Lentegeur of the drug lords. We will not allow our streets to be turned into little mafia empires by a few heartless scoundrels. We are serious when we say we shall crumble their drug empires.
Whilst the SAPS will continue to arrest those who commit crime, a greater and growing awareness among parents/guardians to look after and protect children, must be intensified within society. Any commission of crime by children is a societal challenge that requires a societal response, not just by police but all of us as a collective
We have a collective challenge that is confronting all of us. For as long as we have the streets of Lentegeur infested with drug lords, we must rest. For as long as our children, as young as age of eight remain vulnerable and in danger of being exposed to drugs, we must never rest. For as long as Lentegeur women cannot walk freely without fear of being raped, we must never rest.
From a policing perspective we are improving our investigative capacities to ensure that the perpetrators of such crimes are apprehended and punished. Key in achieving this would on-going training including refresher courses for our officers. In order to do that, we needed to re-enforce our detective and investigative arms. The other fundamental aspect is ensuring that police stations are equipped with dedicated victim support rooms. We are pleased to see that this police station has victim support rooms.
One of the shifts that we had witnessed was that although crimes against women and children had decreased, we are now seeing a trend where young children are now being targeted and abused.
I have also tasked the police to also target those cowards who rape women and children as part of intensifying the war against women and children. However, it is only through the participation of communities and strengthened partnerships with police that this form of crime will be eradicated.
In the Western Cape we have also seen a resurgence of the killing of our police officers. As we officially open this police station, we are also making a clarion call to you as residents to help us arrest the killer/s.
On one occasion we lost, in a space of a week, four police officers who were tragically killed when responding to crime callouts. This has reached proportional and unacceptable levels. In fact even if one police officer has been killed, we would still be increasingly worried. We shall never equate the killing of our police officers to statistics because these are the shields of the nation.
We are also calling on all leaders in society irrespective of their political or religious affiliation to refrain from peddling negative sentiments to police officers, because by so doing they are discouraging and in fact, giving criminals more room to disrespect our officers.
We need the kind of leadership that can inspire our men and women in blue to work hard, because as I indicated earlier, this is a difficult and daunting task. Our officers therefore need all the support they can get.
This said, we are not saying those officers who find themselves on the wrong side of the law, should be protected. We all have a duty and a mandate to expose those officers who taint the good image of the SAPS.
We urge you as residents not to shield these criminals but that you need to report them. Whether it is your uncle, your father, your relative, we urge you to expose these cowards.
Our presence today, as we officially handover this police station to you as a community, should be premised along an understanding that we are here to wage a war against drugs. We urge you to join us as we denounce this cleansing campaign against drug and gang violence in Lentegeur.
We recognise that to win the war against crime it is essential that government join hands with communities in forming concrete partnerships, cemented by a common goal of a safe country.
I now declare the Lentegeur Police Station officially opened.
I thank you.
