EFF statement on 2021/22 quarter 4 crime statistics
5 June 2022
The EFF notes the recently published crime statistics for the last quarter of the 2021/2022 financial year, the period between January and March 2022. The statistics make for a very gruesome reading and show that criminals have free range to inflict immeasurable pain on the majority of the population. The South African Police Service is consistently outwitted by criminals, and often harbors criminals amongst its own ranks, rendering futile whatever rhetoric the leadership of SAPS utters.
Between January and March this year, 6083 South Africans were murdered, there were 13 799 sexual offences, and counted amongst these offences were 10 818 cases of rape, 2165 cases of sexual assault, 547 cases of attempted sexual assault and 269 cases of contact sexual offences. Over this this same period, there have been 5402 cases of car jackings across the country, and almost a similar number of house robberies.
The crime statistics also confirm he incessant cries for help from the people of Lusikisiki in the Eastem Cape, who have been reporting that rape in that small town is out of control. The Lusikisiki Police Station had the highest number of reported rape cases, followed by Inanda in KwaZulu Natal and Delft in the Western Cape.
The EFF is seriously concerned that South Africa is increasingly under siege, and that the police do not any plans on how to deal with this crime. It is for this reason that we wrote to the Minister of Police last week, asking for a meeting to get an understanding on how SAPS deals with rape matters in particular, and what plans to they have for decentralizing procurement of basic services that are key to the functioning of police stations, such as the repair of motor vehicles.
The reality is that the quality of SAPS has been gradually eroded over the past decade or two, and that the police today have no capacity to conduct even the most rudimentary of investigations. Police crime intelligence is almost non-existent, and basic crimes that could be detected, such as the regular mass killings in Khayelitsha, go under the radar, undetected because SAPS has no intelligence to speak of.
At a legislative level, we have constantly asked parliament to establish a joint steering committee to oversee the implementation of crime prevention measures, with specific focus on gender-based violence, particularly rape. Parliament has consistently refused to take the increasing pandemic of rape and sexual assault seriously, but they have recently established a committee similar to the one we proposed to deal with climate change. We will again write to the Speaker of Parliament, asking her to reflect on these growing numbers of sexual assaults and rapes, and drum it into her head that parliament can no longer sit around while our people are under siege.
At an executive level, the president must realize that whatever rhetoric Bheki Cele talks about, he simply has no intellectual or operational capacity to lead the fight against crime, and he does not possess the integrity needed to lead this fight. SAPS need to root out rotten police, and the honest police remaining must be fully capacitated with resources and training.
All the Station Commanders in the police stations with leading crime statistic must be replaced with capable leaders who will take the fight against crime to the criminals. In a normal society, Bheki Cele would have resigned by now, and we ask that he steps aside and leave this responsibility to someone who can actually do the job.
Issued by Sinawo Thambo, National Spokesperson, EFF, 5 June 2022
