South Africa’s criminal justice system is failing the people of the country miserably, says Dr Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus.
Today, during a parliamentary debate on the efficiency of South Africa’s criminal justice system, Dr Groenewald said that a competent commissioner from the ranks of the police as well as the removal of the rotten apples in the ranks, will get the service back on the right track.
“There are a lot of people in the police and justice system that are working hard and giving their best to serve the people of South Africa well, but they are tainted by the rotten apples in their midst. It is wrong of the law not to remove these rotten apples, because now the good workers also have to bear the reputation of being rotten apples.
“In the 2016/17 year under record, 2,1 million crimes that could be classified as serious offences were committed in South Africa. In contrast, there are only 27 000 detectives in the police force. How on earth can a mere 27 000 detectives investigate and exact justice in so many cases?
“The Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula, admitted that former commissioner, George Fivaz, was the last proper police commissioner. He also admitted that since then, none of the commissioners were up to standard.
“And who appoints the police commissioner? The president of the country. Clearly, here political agendas have precedence over the interests of the people of South Africa.
“Today I want to pronounce that the situation will only improve once a competent national police commissioner, from the ranks of the police, is appointed.
“At the moment, only 20% of all reported crimes are successfully prosecuted. That means that 80% of the criminals in South Africa are getting away with what they’ve done,” says Dr Groenewald.
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