Gauteng community safety committee wants discussion on state of emergency to fight crime
The chair of the Gauteng legislature’s community safety committee says the crime-ridden province desperately needs more well-resourced police officers.
Bandile Masuku made the remarks as Gauteng remains one of the provinces with the highest murder rates in the country.
Masuku’s comments come shortly after the release of the latest crime statistics by Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu.
The country’s rape cases climbed from 9,252 to 9,309 in the second quarter, which represents a 0,6% increase from the previous quarter.
Nationally, contact crime increased by 2.6% overall, with more than 153,637 cases recorded for the three-month period.
“The most important thing is the boots on the ground and the resources in terms of vehicles, and also where the police work from,” Masuku told Jacaranda FM News.
“One thing we have noticed is that the police stations are not conducive for the work that the police have to do.”
Masuku also believes there needs to be a discussion about declaring a state of emergency to empower the government to deploy additional resources to support the police in combating crime effectively.
“As a country, we have high levels of respect for human rights. So, it’s not going to be a blanket type of thing, but it requires some form of limitations in terms of some movements and activities that will require people to move around. With the state of emergency, it might be restricted. The stop and searches will play a role in the restrictions.
“The most important thing is to ask for a high level of cooperation between law enforcement agencies. There is a big gap between them, and we need all the law enforcement agencies to work in an integrated fashion. The other aspect is continuous community mobilisation because, without them, we won’t be able to achieve anything.”
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