Deputy Chairperson, the SA Police Service, SAPS, is ineffective, underfunded and rotten with criminals serving within its ranks. It is failing in its constitutional duty of keeping us safe and this is the main issue. The Minister's target of curbing serious crime statistics over the next 10 years is not good enough, for the more than 18 000 people who get murdered every year in this country, a decade is time that they do not have.
To make things worse, this department's budget is allegedly being cut by R6 billion, the statistic on which the minister and the Commissioner could not even agree on. The point is, SAPS is underfunded and so poorly structured that the funds that it does have, is not used to effectively prevent crime. We need police that can deal with murders on arms in townships and at the hands of gangsters.
We need a service that is trained, equipped and most of all, trusted by the people. What is more is that the Minister's salary is most likely the biggest item of fruitless and wasteful expenditure. We need someone who can take himself, this job and the safety of the South Africans seriously.
Again I say, for the sake of the people we serve, every woman, man, child and their safety; the DA cannot support this budget and neither should you. Thank you.