The Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, should not be lulled into a false sense of security by the slight decrease in serious crime in Gauteng.
Yesterday, Lesufi and the Gauteng Police Commissioner, Lt. Gen. Tommy Mthombeni, announced the crime statistics for April to June of this year.
Murder decreased by 7,3%, attempted murder by 4,8%, sexual offences by 0,5%, ordinary assault by 4,7%, robbery by 7,3% and hijacking by 4,8%.
The FF Plus is convinced that people are not reporting all incidents of crime because they have lost faith in the police.
On Tuesday, the party visited a police station and tried to lodge a complaint, but was unable to do so because the computer system was offline and there were no police vehicles available for officers to go and investigate the complaint.
The praise for Lesufi for appointing 6 000 peace wardens in Gauteng may also be short-lived.
These wardens are being trained by the Defence Force. The Defence Force is not competent to provide crime-prevention training, though.
One of the biggest shortcomings in combating crime is the lack of crime intelligence on grass-roots level.
Developing a thorough crime-intelligence system on grass-roots level and obtaining help from local communities will drastically decrease the crime rate.
The FF Plus will keep putting pressure on the Gauteng government to compel Lesufi to re-appoint an MEC for Community Safety instead of trying to fulfil this function through the Premier’s Office, which is currently the case.
Devolving power, particularly to metro councils in Gauteng, is paramount.
One metro that is currently a cut above the rest is the Tshwane Metro, which is constantly fighting to eradicate corruption and crime.
