DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen takes to the streets of the Cape Flats (Supplied)
John Steenhuisen blasts the ANC for “failing to keep South Africans safe”
Never shy of sticking it to the ANC, John Steenhuisen has lamented the party for not tackling crime properly in the Western Cape.
DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen takes to the streets of the Cape Flats (Supplied)
John Steenhuisen – the DA Chief Whip and newly-titled DA Team One Spokesperson for Crime – was on the streets of the Cape Flats this Monday, to witness what’s being done to fight the scourge of illegal activity and gangsterism in the region.
He was joined on the patrol by City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member of Social Services & Safety and Security, JP Smith, as the pair followed a DA-lead task team into the line of duty.
John Steenhuisen shares police-to-population ratio
The Gang and Drugs Task Team represent one of the many ways in which the government of the City, as well as the Western Cape Provincial Government, work towards fighting crime. However, Steenhuisen was left to bemoan the ANC for their failure to keep South Africans safe.
He rallied against the numbers regarding South Africa’s “police-to-population” ratio, saying that citizens are now less protected as fewer police officers must serve more people:
“Under the failing ANC national government, the South African Police Service (SAPS) is failing to keep South Africans safe. The SAPS Annual Report for 2017/18 records a decline in the police-to-population ratio from 1 SAPS officer for every 369 citizens in 2016/17 to 1 SAPS officer for every 375 citizens in 2017/18.”
“The ANC government also seems to make a concerted effort to keep areas under DA-government even more under-resourced than areas under their own government. In the City of Cape Town, the police-to-population ratio stands at 1 SAPS officer for every 560 citizens.”
“Meanwhile, in Lwandle (Strand) this figure reaches a shocking 1 SAPS officer for every 718 citizens and in Harare, Khayelitsha 1 SAPS officer for every 745 citizens – almost four times the ideal ratio of 1 SAPS officer for every 220 citizens.”
The anti-crime operations conducted by the Gang and Drug Task Team occur several times a month, with a view to curbing drug-dealers and drug use in the Cape’s communities, as well as cracking down on the number of illegal firearms.
