prevention campaign, Bloemfontein
24 March 2007
Programme director
Organisers of this event
Representatives from the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Emergency
Services
Ladies and gentlemen
During the State of the Nation Address earlier this year, our State
President emphasised that the state has a duty to improve safety and security
of all its citizens and communities. The President committed government to,
among others, recruit more police officers in an effort to ensure that our
country is guarded against the perils of crime and other related
activities.
During this second year of our second decade of democracy, we look back with
the sense of triumph that indeed our democracy is deepening daily; the lives of
our people are improving and the culture of human rights is being embraced by
all.
Ladies and gentlemen, our towns and townships, which were a safe haven for
thugs and crooks, are now almost back to normal. We should all appreciate that
the levels of crime in the Free State have decreased substantially over the
past couple of years. There has been a steady decline in the occurrence of
serious crimes such as murder, robbery and attempted murder in our province,
and this should be attributed to the commitment displayed by the members of the
SAPS and the co-operation they have received from our communities.
We should be aware that building a South Africa that is safe and secure for
all, the people themselves must tackle this problem in both their individual
and collective capacity, because in spite of the commendable successes we have
registered, crime remains one of the key challenges in our present
dispensation. For us to effectively deal with crime, we need a holistic,
rational and humane approach that will help us understand both the causes and
manifestations of crime in our communities.
During the past year, we as government have embarked on an aggressive
community mobilisation programme in order to give effect to the partnership
against crime. The programme included amongst others, a consultative conference
on Community Policing Forum (CPF) to build our capacity and to profile the work
of the CPF in the province as well as to improve networking amongst the CPFs,
municipalities and the South African Police Service.
We have to be cognisant of the fact that meaningful crime prevention
requires mass participation in order to be effective. Our commitment in
ensuring people's participation has yielded benefits in the past and we will
continue to call upon mass participation in the fight against crime. To date we
have about 104 community police forums (CPFs) out of 108 police stations across
the Free State.
The process to establish sector policing continues in both rural and urban
areas. As we said before: police officers alone cannot combat crime. It is
therefore imperative for our communities to rise and assist in the fight
against crime by swelling the ranks of the reservists and joining the SAPS.
We should also be aware that there has been a reduction in cases relating to
farm attacks in the Free State. It is important that we work together in order
to ensure that we find a lasting solution to deal with farm attacks and other
crimes. The provincial government working through the Department of Public
Safety and liaison, the South African Police Service and our social partners
such as organised agriculture, security, have introduced a plan called the
Rural Protection Plan (RPP). Although it is in its early stages of
implementation, this plan is already proving to be effective in certain
areas.
As we strive to ensure a safe and secure environment in our province it is
also crucial to ensure that we expose and effectively deal with corrupt
elements within the police service. We cannot and should not allow a few
individuals to discredit the good work being done by committed men and women in
our police service.
We have focused our attention on strengthening ties with communities and
other stakeholders in the Free State to enable an approach that is
comprehensive in the fight against time. It becomes almost impossible to ensure
development in our society if we are faced daily by hindrances such as crime.
The terrible deeds being perpetrated by these criminals are revolting and
sickening.
Our analysis of crime trends indicate hat the biggest social crimes such as
murder, rape, assault and abuse happen mostly between people who know each
other. This places an added responsibility on society to be more vigilant in
the protection of children, women and the aged. Our youth must be mobilised to
shun the usage of drugs and other substances. Alcohol abuse must be discouraged
at all times. For this to happen, a multi stakeholder approach led by the
Community Policing Forum must be sustained. An all round mobilisation of all
structures of our communities must be unfolded to present a broad front against
crime.
We must develop a culture of informing against criminals and discourage the
purchase of stolen goods. It therefore becomes imperative for initiatives such
as this one to be encouraged and sustained in our communities in order to
enable every law-abiding citizen to be involved in eliminating crime and
exposing those who are the perpetrators of criminal activities. Let's restore
the moral fibre of our society, to embrace values that ensure amongst other
things; respect for human life and dignity and property.
It is time for us to stand and be counted. Let us have a resounding 'No!' to
crime in all its forms. Let us make life impossible for criminals and make them
to either run away from out of our midst or change their attitude towards
communal living and a just and honest, hard working life.
The biggest threat to our fundamental human rights, which we were
celebrating on 21 March in Winburg, is crime. The same energies and the never
say die spirit that ensured the demise of the biggest crime against humanity,
apartheid, is the same determination that will ensure that we make the space
for criminals narrower by the day.
The role of business is encouraging. Initiatives such as Business Against
Crime, neighbourhood watch and whistle blowing campaigns, all stand to benefit
from the generous contribution and participation by business. We urge business
to sustain and even broaden this role in strengthening our partnership against
crime
I wish to thank the organisers for having undertaken this initiative. It is
very important that we forge strategic partnerships that will help us fight
this endemic problem that is crime. Let us continue to join the partnership to
build safer communities for all.
We will and we must overcome.
Thank you.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
24 March 2007
