Madam Deputy Chair, first of all I would like to thank you for this opportunity to speak. I have spoken here many times before, between 1994 and 1997, in the old Senate. It is good to be back, although in a slightly different format.
First of all, to the Minister, we haven't had the privilege and the opportunity to meet. I hope to meet with you and your Deputy Minister in the near future. I would like to address some of the remarks he has just made. But before I do so, I would just like to thank the Acting National Police Commissioner, Tim Williams, who stood in at a very difficult time in the SAPS's history. I think he has done an incredible job under the circumstances. Thank you very much, Commissioner.
I would also like to assure Commissioner Dramat, in his newly appointed position, that we are looking forward to working with him and all in the top structure of commissioners. Thank you very much for all the hard work you are doing for the Western Cape.
I listened to some of the remarks made by the Deputy Minister. I must admit that I was a little bit taken aback. A number of speakers spoke about the ANC manifesto and the Freedom Charter and things of that nature. Well, the DA also has a manifesto. [Laughter.] But the fact of the matter is that all of us in this House and in the other House, and every citizen in this country, are subservient to only one document, and that is the national Constitution of South Africa and its subservient laws. We will honour this document only, and we will honour and respect the rule of law.
I can assure you, Minister and your commissioners, that from the Western Cape, you have our fullest support in what you have stated. I've really enjoyed some of the things you've said with regard to the youth and crime intelligence. Here in the Western Cape, we are particularly concerned that the state of crime intelligence in the province is not up to standard.
I have an article here with regard to 1 000 people who mobilised against Somali shopkeepers just the other day. Our information was that the xenophobia situation was about to break out again here in the Western Cape, but according to the police's national crime intelligence, there was no threat whatsoever.
For us to be able to fulfil our role as government in the Western Cape, we have to be able to defend ourselves against any potential threat. I would ask that you please speak to whoever your head of police intelligence is in the country to speak to their counterpart in the Western Cape to ensure that the standard of crime intelligence in the province is up to standard and that the Premier, the Cabinet and the department responsible for community safety are fully briefed.
The Deputy Minister talked about mobilising the youth. I would like to tell the Deputy Minister that the only action that the ANC has taken in the last week was to revolutionise the people in Masiphumelele and in other places in the Western Cape. Owing to this, the police were called out to come and shoot them with stopper bullets because they tried to burn places down. So, with all due respect, mobilising people is one thing, but to do it within the rule of law is another thing altogether.
Over the past few years, we have seen a steady growth in the budget allocated to the SAPS, and we are grateful. I heard what the hon Minister had to say, but I cannot help thinking of all the people in the Western Cape whose lives have been changed forever by crime. It may seem like crime is an inescapable reality today - even more so in the Western Cape - but truthfully it is not. The DA and the Western Cape government, in particular, firmly believe that quite the opposite is true. An abnormally high crime rate should not be regarded as normal or inescapable. It is a reality, but not inescapable.
The Western Cape has some of the worst crime statistics in South Africa and, indeed, in the world. An international study named Cape Town second in line as the murder capital of the world for 2008, and, indeed, the police precincts recorded the highest number of murder incidents in Nyanga in 2007- 08.
Added to this, we have the highest rate of child murders, child rape and child abductions in the country - close to half the national figure. The latest figure shows that from April 2007 to March this year, 128 children and teenagers were murdered in the Western Cape. This is neither normal nor inescapable. It only requires political will, coupled with dedicated police and a criminal justice system, to turn this tide around.
In the past three months alone, I had the personal experience of people who were living in close proximity to me being murdered. These were not people under the influence of drugs or any other substance. They were people going about their normal daily activities - work. One was dropping off a person at work and the other two were murdered in their own workplaces.
As stated, crime and criminality is rife in the Western Cape and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. We have reached a critical crossroads in our country and, indeed, in our province. We must decide whether we will accept a country where a child is raped every three minutes and where one out of four men admits to having indulged in rape themselves.
Drugs and gangsterism in the Western Cape are having a devastating effect on communities in this province. It can be argued that it underpins a wide range of other criminal activities as a result. Drug-related crimes show a dramatic increase of 242% over the last eight-year period, but the continued availability of drugs in our communities is eroding the very core of our province.
Substance abuse, murder and crime in general are serious disincentives to capital and skills and they directly ruin the lives of a growing number of our citizens. We must work effectively within the law against criminals who are adept at covering their tracks by bribing the police and pretending to assist communities.
I believe that there must be a dramatic improvement in our relationship with the Department of Justice. In this regard, I would ask that we work a lot closer with Justice. For instance, in every police station I go to, I find police officers stamping oaths and doing affidavits and things of that nature - taking up their valuable time and keeping the uniform presence off the streets and in the charge office rather. I would suggest that we make use of justices of the peace to do that sort of work and liaise with the Department of Justice to ensure that justices of the peace are put to gainful employment in police stations so that police officers can go back to the streets where they need to be.
Similarly, we need to know that the police's crime intelligence which I have alluded to is on top of its game. It gives the provincial government the opportunity to govern effectively by having intelligence timeously. It will be unfair to place all responsibility for safety and crime prevention on the police. The truth is that the department of community safety in the Western Cape plays an enormous role in safeguarding our communities.
Our mandate is not to fight crime, but to oversee the activities of the police as described in section 206 of the Constitution. The performance monitoring of the SAPS will be formalised by the institutionalisation of regular meetings with the SAPS management which was recently instituted ... [Interjections.] Thank you very much, Madam Chair. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe uNyambose, iPhini lakho, izikhulu zamaphoyisa oKhomishana bonke, oSomaqhuzu, abahlonishwa Amalunga ale Ndlu ahloniphekile. Ngqongqoshe, ngithi namhlanje ngikufisela inhlanhla ukuthi usebenze kahle ku 2010 ukuze izwe lakithi lingangeni ehlazweni, Nyambose. Nina njengamaqhawe-ke namaqhawekazi aleli lizwe ngoba nakhulisa iLembe, kuzofuneka ukuthi lo msebenzi uwuthwale ukuze singangeni ehlazweni ngoba ihlazo liyinto embi kwelakithi.
Mhlonishwa, Ngqongqoshe, okunye engingakucela kuwe njengoNgqongqoshe walawa maphoyisa ukuthi kubekhona indlela yokuthi kubekhona ukuqeqeshwa ekuphathweni kwabantu uma befika eziteshini zamphoyisa bezobika imikhuba ebehlelayo ezweni lonke. Mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe, ngiphinde ngingene kancane kulokhu, ngithi kungephulile kancane ukuthi iPhini likaNgqongqoshe lithi lokhu okubizwa ngama-Street Committees kuzothiwa ama-reservists. Ama- reservists noma abantu abangabasizi bamaphoyisa - yinto esemthethweni ukuthi laba bantu baqeqeshwe ngoba bengicabanga ukuthi mhlawumbe nikhuluma le ndaba ngoba nifuna ukuvula isikole soqonda abazobe behamba beshaya abantu ngezagila ebusuku. Kodwa uma kuzoba nokuqeqeshwa, Nyambose, ngizwa nginokukwethemba ngoba njengomuntu owake welusa izinkomo, uyazi ukuthi kuyaye kwenziwe njani uma kukhona izinto ezithile ezenzekayo.
Ngiyazi ukuthi ezikhathini ezingaphambili imisebenzi yamaphoyisa kwesinye isikhathi yayiye ingabi mihle yoniwa yithina njengabantu, ngoba isidalwa esingumuntu siyohlala sibuthakathaka njalo ngoba sihlala siba nezinhloso zaso emsebenzini esiwenzayo. Kodwa-ke angisho ukuthi wonke amaphoyisa asezweni lakithi ngcolile - awangcolile neze kodwa kukhona okuthile.
Bese ngithi ku-Detective Services, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe, kukhona amacala ayaye avulwe aphinde achithwe ezinkantolo ngenxa yokuthi abaseshi basuke bengazange bacoshe konke okuphathelene nalawo macala, bese inkantolo ize ingcine isiwachithile. Nalapho ngiyafisa Ngqongqoshe, ukuthi kwisabelomali sakho salonyaka wezimali kube nokuqeqeshwa ukuthi baqeqeshwe kahle laba bantu ukuze bakwazi ukubhekana nezigilamkhuba. Bese ngithi-ke mina, sengethule ikepisi lezombusazwe noma ukuphikisana - ngithi Ngqongqoshe mhlonishwa, ngiyaye ngiphatheke kabi noma ngiphatheka kabi ngezigilamkhuba zezepolitiki - osekwenzeke laphaya eMdlovana. UMdlovana i-Greytown, isenhliziyweni yami ngoba yilapho kwagwetshwa khona ubabamkhulu egwetshwa intambo ngisho i-life sentence waze wayogugela ejele. Leyo ndawo kufanele niyibheke nisebenzane nayo ukuze izigilamkhuba ziboshwe ngendlela efanelekile.
Sengiphetha, Ngqongqoshe - ngiyaxolisa Sihlalo. Sengiphetha, Ngqongqoshe, ngicela ukuthi kungenwe nguwena lokhu, ngalesi sizathu esisodwa nje Ngqongqoshe sokuthi siyaye sibone sengathi umsebenzi wamaphoyisa, uthathwa abanye bo-MEC bakho. Akufanele lokho ngoba sinoKhomishana bamaphoyisa kanti nina ningama-heads of department ngokwepolitiki, ngalokho-ke kufanele ninikeze ama-HOD kwezamaphoyisa ukuthi kube yiwona abhekana nabantu. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prince M M M ZULU: Chairperson, hon Minister Mthethwa, your Deputy, the authorities of the Police Service who are commissioners, commissioned officers and all the hon members of this House. Minister, I would like to wish you well in doing your work in 2010 so that the country does not get bad publicity, Nyambose. You, the Mthethwa clan, are the heroes and heroines of this country because you brought up King Shaka; therefore, you should take upon yourself the responsibility of the Police Service so that the country does not receive bad publicity, because it is a very bad thing where I come from.
Hon Minister, another thing that I want to request from you as the Minister of Police is that the police throughout the country must be trained on how to treat the members of the public when they come to report incidents. Hon Minister, I want to briefly comment on what your deputy said, who referred to the changing of street committee members into reservists. The reservists or the police assistants by law should be trained. The impression I got when you mentioned this was that you were looking at opening an academy for security guards who are going to assault people with knobkerries at night. If they are going to be trained, I am putting my trust in you as a former herd-boy because you know how things are dealt with there.
I know that the work of the police was not good previously because of people like us, because a human being will always be weak because he always has other intentions in the work that he does. I am by no means saying that all the police in our country are corrupt, but there are some corrupt elements.
Hon Minister, some cases are struck off the roll because the detectives have not done their job regarding those cases. Minister, in your budget allocation for this year, I wish it could cater for the training of these people in order for them to be able to deal with the criminals.
I will now take off my political cap. The matter regarding the political crime hurts me a great deal, especially regarding what happened in Mdlovana location. Mdlovana location is in Greytown, which holds a special place in my heart because that is where my great-grandfather was executed. By this I mean that he was given a life sentence and he ended up getting sick in jail. You must look at that prison so that the criminals can be handled in a proper manner.
Minister, in closing, I would like to apologise Chairperson. Minister, I am directing this one to you because we have observed that the work of the Police Service is being taken care of by your MECs. That should not be the case because we have the commissioners of police, and not heads of department who are politically deployed people. You must delegate the heads of department to be the ones dealing with the people. [Applause.]]