Ndiyabulela kakhulu sekela-sihlalo, Mphathiswa waMapolisa, Nyambose, nesekela lakho uMpondomise, nazo zonke izidwangube nezidwangubekazi ezilapha, kunye nabaxwayi bemixhaka bezwe lakowethu, amapolisa, siyanibulisa. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[Mr H YAWA (North West): Thank you very much, Deputy Chairperson. Minister of Police, Nyambose and Mpondomise your deputy, all the dignitaries who are present here and high ranking officials of our country, the police, I greet you.]
Deputy Chairperson, in supporting Budget Vote No 22, I wish to stress at the outset that the days of moaning, ivory towers and armchair criticism about the high levels of crime instead of being actively involved in the fight against crime are over. The mandate that our people bestowed on the ANC on 22 April 2009 was for us to pursue their aspiration for security and comfort as envisaged by our revolutionary compass - the Freedom Charter.
The endorsement of our call "Working together we can do better", through the ballot by an overwhelming majority of our people, supported the notion of an active, and not a passive citizenry. We are encouraged by the patriotism and selfless dedication of over 5 000 of our youth participating in our volunteer programme against crime as reservists. The enthusiasm of our youth, street committees and community policing forums testify that our people are yearning for effective, accountable and democratic policing.
It is in pursuit of this objective that we targeted seven municipalities in North West for participation in our Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design Strategy pilot project that was launched in partnership with our community policing forums in the past financial year. This initiative was part of our Letsema Campaign for the February Safety Month to eliminate crime hotspots by cutting overgrown vegetation along footpaths, demolishing disused houses used as hideouts to conduct criminal activities and installing high mast lights.
We intend to expand this programme to all our municipalities for participation because our municipalities need to shed the notion that crime prevention is not their core business. They are critical partners who should be at the forefront of mobilising support within communities in order to intensify the fight against crime and its causes.
As the leading agency in the Provincial Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, supported by other government departments and stakeholders serving on the structure, we proudly demonstrated zero tolerance to criminal activities with the view to reducing the level of crime in and around the host city of Rustenburg during the Fifa Confederations Cup games. Our crime prevention and traffic law-enforcement operations were a resounding success with no major crime incidents reported during the games.
As a result of the support that we received from youth and community policing forums in the Rustenburg area cluster, 216 people were arrested for various crimes, and various suspected stolen property, vehicles, illegal drugs, precious stones, firearms and ammunition were recovered. One hundred and two people were also issued with traffic fines for violation of road traffic regulations, and undocumented foreigners were arrested.
We intend sustaining the onslaught against violent crime such as house robberies, business robberies and vehicle and truck hijacking throughout the province until and beyond 2010. We are strengthening our partnership with the provincial chapter of Business Against Crime in North West as they have embraced President Zuma's clarion call to work together with government and our communities to advance the fight against the scourge of crime and its causes.
The Automatic Numberplate Recognition technology that the organisation had deployed during the Fifa Confederations Cup in support of our crime prevention and traffic law enforcement operations has assisted us in achieving resounding success. We value their partnership and realisation that fighting crime is not just a responsibility of the police, but the responsibility of all citizens, our youth, our churches and faith-based organisations, our traditional leaders, farmers and community-based organisations, the nongovernmental sector, stakeholders and all sectors of our communities.
In line with our Safe Schools Programme, we have stepped up our collaborative efforts with the Department of Education and our respective school governing bodies for implementation of the Adopt-a-Cop, Little Commissioner and Operation Naughty Boy strategies to reclaim our schools from the drug dealers who seek to destroy our valued future leaders. The partnership is to be strengthened to ensure that there is no hole big enough for drug dealers to hide in as we intensify our collaborative efforts to uproot them from our schools, our streets and our communities.
As part of our oversight, we will continue with our unannounced visits to police stations in order to check service delivery, particularly at night, and deal with challenges that are facing our community policing forums.
Working together we can do more to ensure that our people enjoy the freedom guaranteed by our Constitution for the peaceful and safe neighbourhoods that they deserve.
Sekela-Sihlalo, nam mandaleke umsundulo kwintetho ethethwe khona apha kwanamazwi kaSekela-Mphathiswa noMphathiswa wethu, athi kulo nyaka kufanele sibe ngathi siyaliqinisa iqondo lokulwa izigebenga phakathi kwabantu bakowethu, kwaye sithi wambu amapolisa akowethu ngemisebenzi athe ayenza ngeli lixa besibambe imidlalo yendebe yeentshatsheli zamazwekazi kweli lizwe.
Sifuna ukuthi kubo umgangatho mawungehli, madoda neentokazi zakowethu; mawunyukele phezulu ukwenzel' ukuba izigebenga ziphume kwilizwe lakowethu, zingabi nandawo.
Siyavumelana nawe, Mpondomise, kodwa ngenxa yokuba ndilikholwa andizi kulibiza elinye igama: Yenzeka into kuwe tsotsi. Liza kutshon' emini, ubaleke ungekakhalelwa yingqangqolo. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[Deputy Chairperson, let me also add to the speech that was delivered here and to our Deputy Minister's words that this year we must intensify the fight against criminals in our communities and to honour our police officers for their good work during the Fifa Confederations Cup. We urge them to upgrade their good working standards even more in order to kick criminals out of our country and leave them with no place to hide.
We agree with you, Mpondomise, but I will not mention the other word because I am a Christian: Something will happen to you, tsotsi. You will be in deep trouble and have to escape unceremoniously.]