The incident of the deputy minister of Justice and Correctional Services being hijacked and robbed, despite two guards, should make the fact that South African citizens are utterly at the mercy of criminals clear to the minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula, says dr. Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus.
Today, at the budget vote debate of the Police, dr. Groenewald said that according to the crime statistics, the number of murders have increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2015/16. He said that the latest statistics will show if this is an ongoing trend, but that it will probably be the case.
“We also seriously need to reflect on violence against women and children in our country. The way in which the police deal with cases of domestic violence is not satisfactory.
“It is clear that offenders are not properly prosecuted and that forms a breeding ground for the presently cruel murders of women and children. The reason for this is that criminals think that nothing will come of it. This matter urgently requires serious attention.
“In response to the minister’s statement about disarming South Africa, I’d like to point out that his remark demonstrates pure ignorance. Should he disarm South Africa, it would simply mean that in effect only the criminals will have weapons and that would leave the citizens completely vulnerable, which will only serve to increase criminality.
“The minister may be unaware of the fact that more people in South Africa die as a result of stab wounds than gunshot wounds. This is according to the police’s own statistics.
“Only 0,007% of all murders are committed with licensed firearms. This goes to show that licensed firearms are not the problem. The problem, however, is that the minister makes populist remarks that create expectations that cannot be met.
“The minister himself said that there was an increase of 87,5% in protest marches. This is due to the fact that the government makes promises that it can’t keep and then it expects the police to maintain order and calm down the masses. The real cause for these marches is the false promises made by ministers.
“The FF Plus salutes the policemen and -women who work so hard to keep us all safe,” dr. Groenewald said.
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