For a member who is very seldom in this portfolio committee it is rather bizarre that he should stand up at all.
The statistics will be audited by the Auditor-General's office and I think we are going to see quite a difference in the reporting thereof.
I've made this appeal to the SAPS members, right over the heads of the blue- lighters, that any SAPS members who may be in contact with a soccer fan should remember that the eyes of the world will be on us, relentlessly.
The vast majority of our SAPS members are upstanding, honest men and women who one could entrust with one's life. Now is the time to show the world that while there are those amongst you who may be expelled from the SAPS for theft, hijacking, armed robbery and car theft - no, hold on, that was the ANC's candidate in yesterday's by-election in KwaZulu-Natal! - there are those amongst you who will do anything they can to bring the service into disrepute, and the onus is on you to see that they are thrown out of the SAPS and jailed.
The SAPS members must out the criminals within their ranks and, if you have problems doing so because of victimisation, come to me like so many of your colleagues do and let's see if your bosses try to victimise me! The time has come for the SAPS to take back their good name.
Yes, I know that there were 6 000 complaints against members of the SAPS this past year. And, yes, we're watching the squirming of your erstwhile boss, Selebi, as he sits in the dock. And I know that the ANC ignored my calls for years to get rid of the man. But today there is something I would ask you to ignore. The Ministry has taken a thief-in-the-night-decision to lower the violent crime reduction targets. You SAPS members were so nearly there - fighting to reach those 7% to 10% levels and you had almost succeeded. Were you congratulated for this effort? No, instead the Minister has dropped your targets to just 4% to 7%. This in a country where 50 citizens are murdered and 68 raped every day?
The Ministry imagines that we in this House should agree to pay R57 billion to reduce violent crime by less. The SAPS men and women were so close, so I challenge you to aim for 8%, reach it and then hit 9% next year. Don't allow this Ministry to patronise you by lowering your goals to make sure you can reach them, while calling you new names in an attempt to boost your egos. We must go upwards and onwards and not regress into the past.
The Hollywood-style stunts were amusing for a while, but it's time to do hard yards. This R57 billion budget is not an ANC slush fund for parties, cars, hotels and multimillion-rand homes in Pretoria, such as our ever-so- picky National Police Commissioner now enjoys. It is taxpayers' money they give to the government in the hope that it will be spent wisely and for the benefit of all South Africans.
We have 50 people murdered here each day. Show me the benefit in that.
I made the suggestion a year ago that the Minister hire someone who is actually qualified to do the job as our new National Police Commissioner. Instead he chose yet another politician. Well, we see him on television a lot and, of course, he's on this bottle, but let's hope he proves to be as transparent as it is. The jury is still out on that one.
Perhaps the Minister could also answer why it is that the SAPS now treats the ICD with complete contempt? The SAPS used to implement nearly 50% of these recommendations in relation to SAPS members' criminality and now in 90% of the cases, they tell the ICD - what's the expression you use? - "go hang"? [Interjections.]