Cele: Potholes to blame for WC crime, not politics

Cele joined the police force top brass on Friday at an Imbizo in Mitchells Plain in a bid to address the community's concerns about crime in the area.

It's understood residents are especially concerned about missing children.

Cele slammed the province for claiming it was under resourced and neglected.

Instead, Cele told community members and officials that the Western Cape is the most resourced with over 200 additional members roped in from other provinces and over R300 million spent on special operations.

According to Cele, both the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal are the top spenders in the allocated budget.

"There are two provinces that take money here - it's KZN for special teams we have out there to deal with the crime and the political killings. It's taking a lot of money on top of the budget of the province.

"But the next province that is taking more money than KZN is Western Cape," a visibly riled up Cele said.

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He further rejected claims government had copped out of its obligations to the province.

"To say government is not taking care of Western Cape is lies and is disingenuous," he added.

"When they say we do nothing for the Western cape, you must know they are lying."

The province continues to experience high crime levels.

But Cele said it's no solely a policing crisis at hand, adding potholes in hotspot areas are to blame for the hijackings.

He believes the modus operandi for criminals in parts of the province has been to strike motorists as they slow down for potholes.

"Drop this thing of politicising the crime. Drop it! Drop it! Drop it!" Cele said.

"One crime that has gone up here in this province is car hijack and this car hijack happens in Nyanga, Khayelitsha - it happens because of potholes. I'm telling you."

He further called for law enforcement and community members to work hand in hand in addressing the high crime levels.