By: Natasha Archary
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling for Premier Panyaza Lesufi to drop his fancy technology and fix the basics to ensure safety in the province.
DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Community Safety, Crezanne Bosch MPL, says Gauteng residents continue to live in fear of their lives and livelihoods due to the high crime rate.
Despite rampant crime in the province, the DA says the Gauteng Department of Community Safety and Security is not doing enough to ensure residents’ safety.
“The department has plans in place, yet it lacks implementation.
Despite all the promises about state-of-the-art technology, nothing has materialised.
The DA has been indicating that for these high-tech crime prevention methods to work, the department must first fix the basics.
The department must prioritse equipping all our police stations with necessary resources to curb crime, such as police vehicles, personnel, and infrastructure to ensure the safety of residents.”
According to the DA, the department prioritised the following interventions during the 2022/23 financial year:
- The appointment of the Crime Prevention Wardens to strengthen the battle against crime, corruption, vandalism and lawlessness,
- Establishing the Provincial Integrated Command Centre
- e-Security Network
- Establishing the 24/7 anti-land invasion task team to assist in the fight against lawlessness
- Monitor and police Gauteng 24/7
However, the opposition party says that overall crime rates in Gauteng have still not declines, which is a clear indication that these interventions do not have the desired impact.
“The DA proposes that the Gauteng Department of Community Safety, MEC Faith Mazibuko, and Gauteng Premier, Panyaza Lesufi should go back to the drawing board and include different stakeholders involved in fighting and preventing crime to come up with a proper strategy that will result in a decrease in crime rates in the province.”
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