Honest and professional police needed in Northern Cape

8 November 2018

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is calling on the Provincial Police Commissioner, Risimati Shivuri, to take a firmer stance against crime.

In the past week, there have been two early morning armed robberies in Kimberley, one from a house in a residential area and the other relating to an attack on a cyclist.  The rise in crime, most notably armed robberies, is a worrying indication that we are not safe in Kimberley, not even in our own homes.

This is not surprising given the recent findings of the Stats SA’s Victims of Crime Survey, that indicates that people in the Northern Cape are more likely to become victims of robberies and housebreaking than their fellow South Africans living in other provinces.

There has been an alarming change in dynamics in the crime situation in Kimberley over the years. Kimberley has changed from a peaceful city in which to raise your kids, to a place of fear.

It is the chronic under-resourcing, under-capacitation and under-training of the police force that has allowed criminality to spiral out of control in this way. Untenable levels of poverty, unemployment and substance abuse further aggravate the crime situation in the Northern Cape.

The DA is calling on Shivuri to prioritise the development of SAPS in the province into a fully equipped and efficient police force.

Unfortunately, however, we know that the failing ANC will still rather opt to spend more money on VIP protection services than on the safety of normal citizens.

Therefore, only change under a DA-led government will ensure that the safety of our people is prioritised and that SAPS is fully equipped to bring down crime and create safe environments for us to live, work and play in.

Issued by Andrew Louw, DA Northern Cape Premier Candidate, 8 November 2018