IFP MP, Velaphi Ndlovu said:
The latest South African crime statistics for the 2010/2011 period released today, by the Minister of Police Mr Nathi Mthethwa, has revealed that South Africa is slowly making headway in successfully dealing with South Africa’s high levels of rampant crime. This is welcome progress, and the IFP commends the Ministry of Police and the SAPS for their dedication and commitment to making South Africa a safer place.
However, we believe that the remarkable drop in the crime figures must be viewed against the background of an intensive crime fighting campaign that was waged in June and July 2010, when South Africa hosted the international community during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
During this period, South Africa’s 1118 police stations had additional staff, while our police men and women worked overtime. We believe this is one of the main reasons why today’s crime figures paint such a rosy picture. The IFP believes that if the SAPS could adopt their World Cup modus operandi, with regard to crime fighting as a permanent way of operation – we could see further reductions in crime levels going forward.
Since 1994 we have seen a massive decline year-on-year in the murder rate. The newest figures, a drop of 6.5%, reflect that same trend. We believe this is a promising and positive sign. In addition, the massive drop in car hijackings, attempted murder rate and the drop in house burglaries is significant and laudable.
However, the IFP is shocked by the alarming increase of 61.5% in ATM robberies. ATMs are often unguarded and seen as easy targets for criminals. The IFP believes that government must develop an urgent plan of action to deal with this type of crime.
More importantly, the frank admission by the Minister of Police today that South Africa is not yet winning the war against rape is commendable. The levels of rape in South Africa remain unacceptably high, while all crimes against woman and children must be viewed as a national disgrace. While rape is often underreported, in some instances the police also fail to promote the rights of rape victims by not following correct procedures, or in some cases, even failing to record these crimes. This leads to rape victims feeling helpless and being discouraged to report the crime. This is an issue that government must place special focus on with immediate effect.
The IFP remains concerned with the high levels of corruption within our society, while the tendencies of criminals to target soft targets, such as small businesses and the increase in drug-related crime remain worrying. In addition, police brutality, the high number of police officials being murdered and understaffing of the ICD remains a cause for concern. Better training for our police officers is urgently needed, while our conviction rate remains far too low.
Despite the improvements in our crime levels, our war against crime is far from over. South Africa’s crime levels remain high. One person raped, assaulted, hijacked or murdered is one too many. We must continue to intensify our fight against the lawless elements within our society, and we are hopeful that next year’s figures will show more significant reductions in all levels of crime.
