Minister of Police Bheki Cele in launched the campaign in Brits. Photo: SAPS.
Cele says WC ‘enjoys lion’s share’ of SA police resources, the province disagrees
“Out of all the provinces, the province of the Western Cape is the most resourced over and above the allocated provincial budget,” said Bheki Cele in Mitchells Plain on Friday.
Minister of Police Bheki Cele in launched the campaign in Brits. Photo: SAPS.
The Minister of Police Bheki Cele, along with high-ranking members of the South African Police Service (SAPS), led a ministerial imbizo in Rocklands, Mitchells Plain, in the Western Cape, on Friday, 8 October. Community members shared their concerns about crime in the area.
Cele listened to these complaints, listed specialist units active in the province, and said the Western Cape has the biggest provincial budget. The province’s Department of Community Safety, however, says it is under-resourced.
CELE SPEAKS TO MITCHELLS PLAIN COMMUNITY
Cele said that the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) have recorded some of the country’s highest crime figures and receive the most policing resources at the imbizo in Mitchells Plain on Friday.
Community members engaged with SAPS and laid bare their grievances about child murders, kidnapping, gender-based violence, gangsterism and drug abuse, which have been identified as the most concerning crimes in the area.
“We need more vehicles. We need a gang unit because gangsterism is our biggest problem in Mitchell’s Plain. We also need a special focus on drugs, because many of our murders are related to the supply of drugs.
“It’s not just SAPS. It’s also the other government departments that have a responsibility,” said Norman Jantjies, the Chairperson of the Mitchells Plain Community Policing Forum, according to SABC News.
According to Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, the Minister assured the community that their calls are not falling on deaf ears and the process of injecting more resources into Mitchells Plain and other Western Cape communities is ongoing.
“We will never win this war if we don’t partner with communities, especially in this province, when we fail to work hand in glove as the provincial and national structures together with community structures, we will then fail the community,” said Cele.
The Minister conceded that more must be done to fight crime in Mitchells Plain. However, he added that the Western Cape “enjoys the lion’s share of policing resources aimed at addressing crime concerns raised by communities.”
“Out of all the provinces, the province of the Western Cape is the most resourced over and above the allocated provincial budget.
“We have through our analysis of crime trends took decisions to set-up special operations such as the Anti-Gang Unit(AGU), there has also been the introduction of Special operations like Operation Thunder and Operation Lockdown and a task teams investigating extortion and taxi violence,” said Cele.
The Minister added that many of the police’s interventions in the Western Cape were unique to the province. “…communities can agree that life may not be perfect but it’s certainly improving since they were established,” said Cele.
According to the Ministry, an additional 200 police officers have been redeployed in the Western Cape from other provinces and since 2018, R350 million was used on special operations in the province.
POLICE ‘NOT DOING ENOUGH’ SAYS FRITZ
Albert Fritz, the provincial safety MEC, hit back at Cele’s comments and said the Western Cape Department of Community Safety should have been “an integral part” of the imbizos. Prior to Cele’s visit to Mitchells Plain, similar engagements took place in Nyanga and Gugulethu in recent weeks.
Fritz said the department’s alleged exclusion was disappointing because the province enjoys an “excellent working relationship” with Lieutenant Thembisile Patekile, the Western Cape Provincial Police Commissioner, and the provincial police.
“The reality is that the National Department of Police, under the leadership of Minister Cele, is not doing enough in our communities.
“Police service men and women on the ground work extremely hard in this province, but the province is under-resourced with not enough SAPS officers on the ground,” said Fritz.
The MEC said Cele and the government are aware of the reported shortages in the province as the department submit Policing Needs and Priorities reports to him every year. The reports highlight the “dire under-resourcing of the Cape Flats, in particular.” The department said there has been little to no action on such reports.
“It is now time for the National Government to step up and play their part by providing more resources to the provincial SAPS, so they can do more. The people of the Western Cape deserve nothing less,” said Fritz.
