DA march against Cele ‘political gimmick’ - police ministry
The police ministry has admitted to some “shortcomings” but it says there has been significant progress in the fight against crime under the leadership of Minister Bheki Cele.
The ministry’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba responded to calls by the DA for Cele to be removed.
She’s described the march as a political gimmick, adding that the ministry believes the same energy could have been used to hold constructive engagements.
While the matter’s gathered over 30,000 signatures on the petition to have the minister axed, Themba says there’s been some progress.
“…each day these shortcomings are being addressed, and this includes the DNA backlog which is currently standing at 88,000. This is a downtrend from 241,000. It is through the leadership of this so-called ‘dangerous minister’ that gender-based violence desks have been established in police stations in all provinces for more victim-centered services,” she said.
The DA’s John Steenhuisen, supported by the party’s Western Cape leadership, has called for policing to be devolved, but Themba says the party’s barking up the wrong tree.
“The call by the DA, in terms of the devolution of power of the SAPS is being made on the wrong doorstep. The police minister is not in a position to make such a decision. It needs a constitutional amendment.”
Themba has denied claims the minister has used the police service to settle political scores, especially in the DA-led Western Cape. She adds the province, along with Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, gets her lion’s share of the police budget.
“As we speak right now there are over 200 police officers that were taken from different provinces stationed in the Western Cape, particularly in the Cape Town metropol, conducting immediate operations to make sure that there is stability, but also to make sure that is curtailed.”
Themba says the gains in the reduction of murders reported in the latest crime statistics, which were released by the minister in August, are the result of collaborative efforts between police, local authorities, civil society, and communities.
She says crime is not a political battle that should be fought in silos, and that the country can only benefit from joint efforts to end crime.
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