Premier Senzo Mchunu unleashes legal furies to arrest sweeping wave of lawlessness
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Senzo Mchunu has expressed his condolences to the families and friends of a couple that was killed by a drunk motorist while jogging in Wartburg outside Pietermaritzburg. This follows the discovery of the body of the victim, Sithabile Mkhasibe who had been missing since last week. The body of another victim, Xolani Nxele (32) was discovered by the police.
“I am receiving regular reports from the MEC for Transport and Community Safety Willies Mchunu regarding incidents involving drunk drivers who are killing joggers and cyclists on our roads. Our thoughts are with the families of the victims.”
“I was most disturbed to learn that the driver of the car that killed the couple drove away with the victim in the bonnet. I was even more horrified upon hearing that the driver went to the extent of hiding the body of the victim in a sugarcane plantation.”
“This action reveals the extent to which lawlessness has taken root in some parts of our communities. The people of this province and the country as a whole are at risk of losing their freedom and national security at the hands of unruly elements.”
“The Provincial Executive Council has also been briefed about the incidents of interruptions of service delivery by groupings including Delangokubona Business Forum in Umlazi, eThekwini. This forum was demanding that its members be given tenders without following the due Supply Chain Management processes which is against the prescripts of the Municipal Finance Management Act. Members of the forum carried out threats to council employees and sub-contractors that rendered services such as provision of electricity, water and waste removal. These individuals boasted that they were hard-core criminals and not scared of being arrested which nearly resulted in the community losing confidence in the government of the day.”
“We want to commend the leadership of eThekwini Municipality for ensuring that common understanding is reached with the forum. It has been resolved that members of the forum will be subjected to skills development processes through a series of workshops focusing on entrepreneurship. While we welcome the end to the disruption of service delivery by the forum, we want to caution those who want to hold the province at ransom that we will unleash legal furies.”
“Our message as government is that a nation without righteousness cannot survive and freedom without the rule of law cannot be enjoyed by all. We have a duty as the people of KwaZulu-Natal to stand up and condemn any lawlessness that creates social instability. We must refuse to be outnumbered by unruly elements. ”
“It is for these reasons that recently we convened a meeting with stakeholders in the law fraternity. We met with the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services Michael Masutha, Judge President Achmat Jappie, magistrates, judges and lawyers from across the province.”
“In a democratic country such as South Africa, the role of this noble profession has always been very significant. It is the watchdog of democracy and ever vigilant in the matters concerning rule of law as guaranteed by the Constitution.”
“We have implored the captains of the legal fraternity to work with the provincial government to arrest the wave of lawlessness that threatens to sweep the province. We want cases of the breach law to be speeded up and that access to justice be guaranteed for ordinary members of society at all times. ”
“We commend the police for moving swiftly to deal with hardened criminals behind brazen robbery at Bridge City in Durban yesterday. The shootout between police and these criminals in which automatic rifles were used and police injured calls for decisive action. Innocent lives could have been lost.”
“Critically, the justice system must deal harshly with those behind the lawlessness that has engulfed the taxi industry. The taxi industry-sponsored “hitmen” (Izinkabi) possess the biggest threat to the nation’s security. If lawlessness in the taxi industry goes unchecked, this province will unfortunately develop a reputation of being a haven of “hitmen”. In order to prevent this from happening, we undertake to double our efforts as government.”
Enquiries:
Ndabezinhle Sibiya
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