By
Hon M B Gwala MPL, KZN Legislature
Hon. Chairperson, the Inkatha Freedom Party acknowledges the allocation of R210.123million to the Department of Community Safety & Liaison for the 2016/2017 financial year.
This amount is in no way sufficient to meet the crime fighting needs of the province of KwaZulu-Natal. When budgets are decided upon, one needs to consider the immense contrasts that exist in our province where we have densely populated towns and cities with mushrooming informal settlements as contrasted with vast rural areas where communities reside in areas that are difficult to reach due to the terrain of the land. If we are to have an efficient police service that is able to reach out to our people wherever they may be, then we need to have the necessary material and human resources at all times.
Most often it is difficult if not impossible for police personnel to carry out their duties when policing crime in the informal settlements that do not have addresses or formal identification. This government speaks with a forked tongue when it says on the one hand that it will put an end to informal settlements, while on the other hand it allows shack settlements to mushroom all around towns and cities. These shack settlements are a breeding ground for criminal activity as well as a convenient hideout for criminals. The Department of Community Safety & Liaison needs work closely with COGTA and ensure that shack settlements become something of the past as this will greatly assist policing and give confidence to established communities in the formal sector.
Winning the fight against criminal activity will also benefit the province in terms of restoring business confidence and creating sustainable jobs. Many business have been forced to shut down over the past few years due to the high levels of crime and labour unrest. Investor confidence will be restored once the province is recognised as one which is safe.
In acknowledging the budget allocation and in stating that it is insufficient, I must also hasten to add that throwing money at a problem is not the answer. What is required is efficient, competent and respected leadership in the upper levels of the police service in our province. In this regard I must say that the IFP welcomes the suspension of Commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni whose appointment was ill-advised and which we have always questioned. I would elaborate at an appropriate time. What is this intention to suspend? There must be a good reason why a letter was sent to the commissioner and we are aware that there are good reasons for her not to remain in office. By expressing an intention to suspend, there is time to cover up the wrong doings that are clear for all to see.
We still demand to know on what grounds and with what justification was Ngobeni’s contract renewed last year in view of all the accusations of dubious activities hanging over her head. When someone occupying the position of a provincial commissioner is seen to be lacking in leadership and is suspected of being involved in corrupt activities, it is no wonder that public confidence in the police has taken a dive.
For a long time we as the IFP have been calling for Ngobeni to be removed as police commissioner. Our wisdom was ignored in the past but our calls have now been justified. We hope that morale amongst police personnel, which is at an all-time low because of weak leadership and a lack of respect and discipline, will now improve. We call on IPID to fully investigate all the allegations against Ngobeni and others linked to corrupt activities in the provincial police department.
Hon. Chairperson, when we travel around our province and visit police stations, we are often appalled by the conditions under which our police personnel are forced to work.
We find that the buildings are in great need of maintenance and are often inadequate to cater for the needs of the community. There has to be a substantial budget allocation to renovate and to upgrade infrastructure at many police stations. There are far too many police stations that do not have appropriate rooms where people who are victims of sensitive crimes such as rape and abuse are able to have their statements taken in privacy and comfort. As a result of this a number of such cases go unreported. Can we then say we are winning the fight against women and child abuse?
We are aware that in the Department of Education thousands of “ghost” learners and a large number of “ghost” teachers have been identified. These “ghosts” have been costing the tax payer huge amounts of money that could have been used to ease spending pressures in important areas of service delivery. Could there not be “ghost” employees in the Department of Community Safety & Liaison also? I want to urge the MEC to ensure that the headcount is completed without delay so that “ghosts” can be removed and savings effected.
PRIORITY FUNDING FOR ELECTION MONITORING: R5million
Hon. Chairperson, The Inkatha Freedom Party is deeply concerned that we are not winning the fight against criminal activity. In spite of establishing Community Safety Partnerships such as Community Safety Forums, Community Policing Forums and Ward Safety Committees we are not seeing a decrease in crime. I see in the Green Book that the Volunteer Social Crime Prevention Project (VSCPP) will have its grant allocation increased from R1million to R11.043million to allow the Department to increase the number of crime prevention volunteers from 48 in 2015/2016 to 380 in 2016/2017. This is a massive increase in grant allocation and looks highly suspicious as this is an election year. Are these crime prevention volunteers ANC cadres who will be paid to canvas for the ANC under the guise of being crime prevention volunteers? We would be very interested to see who these volunteers are, where are they based and what value are we getting for more than R11million that is being allocated to them.
It must be of serious concern to us that when we have so many community structures as well as the Communities in Dialogue Programme in addition to the crime intelligence unit, that we still are faced with community violence as we saw in Isithebe, at the Zululand Anthracite Colliery and the ongoing service delivery protests that are not reported before they occur. The inability to prevent these destructive protests really shows that these structures that are funded through tax payer’s money are not serving their intended purpose. The Department needs to reconsider the viability of having so many such structures in place and if we are receiving value for money.
If these structures are serving their intended purposes, then I must question why is it that people are still being murdered in KwaZulu-Natal, especially is hostels around EThekwini?
Why is it that just this past Sunday four IFP members are shot dead at the KwaMashu Hostel and another two were shot the day after, one fatally? As the IFP we have been raising our concerns around these killings for years now, but it still continues. Is this another attempt by sinister forces to destroy IFP leadership in KZN?
It would appear that the MEC is reluctant to address this issue and put a stop to these senseless killings of innocent people in our province. As early as June last year I tried to secure a meeting with the MEC through the Chairman of the portfolio committee for Community Safety & Liaison to address this very issue, but that meeting never materialised and the killings continue. Of what value is Operation Sukuma Sake when we cannot rise as different parties in this House and build a peaceful province free of violence and killing of innocent citizens?
Every time that these killings occur we hear of task teams that will be put in place, and that is the end of it. We never get to hear of progress that those task teams are making. Now after these latest killings, the National Minister visited the hostel and announced that two priority crime units will soon be unleashed on criminals. Does this mean that the present crime fighting units have failed and that the killings will continue while those two units receive training in some foreign country?
We used to have the South African Narcotics Bureau and the Firearms Unit which were disbanded in 2000, now we hear that these units will be reinstated.
This government is notorious for disbanding institutions that are successful at their jobs, especially when it comes to fighting crime.
One will recall that we had the Child Protection Unit within the SAPS that was doing a good job in reducing the number of child abuse cases but that was disbanded. Now we find that child abuse cases are on the rise. Should we not consider reinstating the Child Protection Unit, for the sake of our children?
I thank you,
Contact:
Mr Blessed Gwala MPL
078 290 5824