Johannesburg - Political parties and civil society groups alike are calling for Police Minister Bheki Cele to be fired with immediate effect amid shocking statistics on the increased crime rate in South Africa.
On Friday, the crime statistics revealed that in just the three-month period between October and December, 7 555 people were murdered in the country, and there were 7 016 cases of attempted murder.
“Out of the 7 555 people murdered in the three months of reporting, 3 144 people were killed with a firearm, and 2 498 were killed with other weapons such as knives, sharp and blunt instruments, bricks, and in many cases bare hands,” Cele said.
He said it was clear that a broader conversation had to be had about what was at the heart of violent crime in the country.
Cele said gun violence was problematic and posed a serious threat to lives and livelihoods.
“With the analysis of the current and previous statistics, it is quite evident that firearms are only part of a bigger problem. At the core of the matter is human behaviour. We have to be honest as South Africans about the causes of violence and address them,” said Cele.
Cele said the SAPS would continue to intensify operations to detect and confiscate illegal firearms and ammunition, while a legislative intervention in the form of an amendment to the Firearms Control Act to address the availability of guns in our communities was under way.
Cope said it was extremely concerned about the levels of crime and lawlessness, especially the violence that went with them.
“It seems to us that it is only President Ramaphosa who does not see that his police minister, Cele, is incompetent and not suitable to lead that portfolio. He has completely failed the country,” said Cope spokesperson Dennis Bloem.
He further said: “People are being shot dead as if South Africa is a war zone. Nobody is safe – not even in one's home. Police, religious leaders, music artists, and ordinary citizens are targets of these thugs. The country will never succeed in winning the battle against crime for as long as Cele is the minister of police.”
Bloem said Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola was a trained professional police officer who had been turned into Cele’s bodyguard.
“That bullish behaviour of Cele will render all police commissioners useless if he is not urgently removed. Cele is interfering with the duties and responsibilities of the national commissioner,” said Bloem.
He said the situation needed urgent intervention from Ramaphosa.
“Cope calls upon the president to put the interests of the country above the interests of his comrades and fire Cele,” Bloem said.
According to the EFF, Cele as minister lacks both the intellectual depth required to think through crime-fighting strategies and the basic operational competency required to manage and strategically guide the SAPS.
The party said: “Masemola is not any better, and his appointment was merely payback for the role he played in helping Ramaphosa conceal his Phala Phala crimes.”
The party’s national spokesperson, Sinawo Thambo, said the EFF reiterated that the only immediate solution to the misery and fear that has captured South Africa owing to violent crime was the immediate resignation of Ramaphosa.
“South Africa is a nation at war with itself, and that is because criminality goes unpunished at the very top of leadership in this country. President Ramaphosa is a money-laundering criminal, and our police force is factionalised and corrupted by a minister who is in bed with criminals,” said Thambo.
“Ramaphosa leads a lawless society, and we call on all victims of crime and abuse to join us in the national shutdown on March 20, 2023 to remove those who have failed to protect us. If we want to ensure that law and order prevail in our society, then the removal of Ramaphosa is necessary and urgent,” Thambo said.
Police ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said Cele served at the behest of the president, who had the power to hire and fire him. With that said, there were many policing interventions that had been put in place by the SAPS under Cele’s tenure to deal with crime from a legislative and policy-intervention perspective, which was the responsibility of the ministry.
“So the calls for Minister Cele to step down because of ‘no action’ are rather unfortunate and plainly unfounded,” Themba said.
A crime expert and organised and financial crime investigator from IRS Forensic Investigations, Chad Thomas, said the SAPS was in disarray.
“Organised crime can only thrive in a country where there is a disorganised police force. Part of the problem causing a disorganised police force is the top leadership and the allocation of budget,” said Thomas.
He further said: “Just 2% of the police budget is allocated to the Hawks, who are meant to investigate priority crimes, whereas more than 3% of the police budget is allocated to VIP protection and security services. The minister wants to increase the numbers of visible police officers, yet the numbers of qualified detectives are dwindling. We need more money allocated to the Hawks as well as to the police detective services. If the Hawks and SAPS detectives are fully capacitated, there will be far more prosecutable cases brought before the courts, and then criminals will learn about consequences and accountability, which could lead to a reduction in crime,” Thomas said.
He said criminality would thrive when there were few to no convictions.
“This can only be reversed with a capable detective component and a fully capacitated Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation,” said Thomas.
Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya was not available to comment on the mounting calls for Ramaphosa to fire Cele.
ntombi.nkosi@inl.co.za
The Star