The DA will put 250 000 police on the streets to win the fight against gangs and drugs

Manenberg, Cape Town

Saturday, 19 April 2014

Note to Editors: This is an extract of a speech delivered by DA Leader Helen Zille during a march against drugs and gangsterism in Manenberg, Cape Town, today.

Today we are here to stand shoulder to shoulder with the residents of Manenberg. 

We are standing together in the fight against gangsters and drug lords. We are standing together for a safer community. 

The thugs that call these streets their "territory" do not represent us. Nor do they represent our young people. 

Too often we hear new stories of terrible things happening to children in this community. 

These stories must end now. 

And they can end. There is no reason that the drug lords should win this war. 

Since the DA came to government in the Western Cape, we have done everything that is possible within our constitutional power to fight drugs and gangs. 

I want everyone in the Western Cape and South Africa to know that we have taken this fight head on, because the DA believes that our country can never achieve a better life for all when our communities are still living in fear of gangsters. 

So we have invested millions and millions into fighting gangs. 

But it is critical to remember that the ANC national government has nearly complete control over the criminal justice system. The SAPS is controlled by the ANC national government. The Department of Justice, the court system, is controlled by the ANC national government. The Department of Correctional Services, the prison system, is controlled by the ANC national government. 

And let me make one thing clear: The ANC national government has all the resources it needs to win this war once and for all - but it doesn't use those resources. It has failed to take communities like this seriously. 

Firstly, it denies that there even is a war to fight. 

When I called for President Zuma to send the army to stabilise the worst affected communities and restore peace, so that the police could do their jobs, he refused. He said it was not necessary!

We have said over and over - we need the army to ensure peace and stability. Then the police can catch the criminals. And we repeat that call today.

The ANC national government has also refused to reintroduce specialised anti-gang and anti-drug units in the SAPS. They shut down these units when they were starting to have real success. 

They have also cut the number of reservists serving in the SAPS, both paid and unpaid. Why cut the number of people who are volunteering to fight crime for free? It makes no sense. 

Most importantly, 60% of SAPS vacancies are in the Western Cape. This is a shocking figure, because it means there are simply not enough police on the streets in this province to fight crime effectively.

The national average policing ratio is 1:303 officers per citizen, but let's look at what the ratio is in some of the worst gang affected areas of Cape Town: 

Nyanga (233 murders in 2011/12): 1:1418

Delft  (87 murders in 2011/12): 1:1166

Mitchells Plain (66 murders in 2011/12): 1:3239

It is clear that the ANC national government is ignoring the crisis of gangs and drugs. They are ignoring these communities. 

That is why we had to act. We could not sit and wait for the President and Minister Nathi Mthethwa to wake up. We had to take over and do their job for them, and do it better! 

There are 21 000 SAPS officers in Cape Town. The Cape Town Metro Police have 700 officers. 

But the Metro Police's ‘Drugbusters' Unit is already having huge successes in catching drug dealers. 

We've also started a specialised anti-gang unit, and a specialised K9 sniffer-dog unit. Our Gang Unit has made more than 250 gang arrests in a short time. Our specialised units have confiscated dozens of illegal firearms and more than 9000 units of drugs. 

We've set up a Metro Police Youth Academy to recruit new officers from schools in communities like Manenberg, so that our young people can contribute to fighting crime, and stay out of gangs. 

And last year, when the warfare flared up again, we occupied the area with a massive Metro Police presence in a sustained crackdown operation. It showed what a difference SANDF patrols would have made if my original request that they be deployed to stop the gang violence had been granted. More innocent lives would have been saved. 

The DA government is now spending R30 million a year actively fighting gangs and drugs. Just a few years ago, under the ANC government, there was no money spent, and no plan. 

This doesn't even include the money we are investing in trying to prevent people getting addicted to drugs, and helping drug addicts get better. We've increased the number of drug rehabilitation centres from 5 centres in 2009 to 28 centres in 2014.  

The gang culture in the Western Cape is old and entrenched, and there are no simple solutions. But that doesn't mean we will stop trying. 

The DA is serious about fighting crime. We will do everything we can to get rid of drugs and gangs. 

And if we were in government at the national level, we could do even more. We could win this war once and for all. 

If the DA was in government at a national level, we would be able to put 250 000 properly trained police officers on the streets, with thousands of new detectives.   

We would use the army to strategically pacify the worst affected communities to allow the SAPS to collect evidence and convict criminals. 

We would bring back the Specialised Drug and Gang Police Units immediately. 

These are the DA's promises to you. No slick slogans. This is literally a life and death war.

And we are going to win it. 

We know that the people of Manenberg have had enough of gangsterism, crimes and drugs.  

Stand together with the DA on May 7 and we can carry on fighting this war shoulder to shoulder with you. We can bring change to this community. 

Issued by the DA, April 19 2014

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