DA's CALL FOR THE DEPLOYMENT OF SANDF TO FIGHT GANG VIOLENCE IS POPULIST POSTURING

July 10, 2012

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) in the Western Cape rejects Helen Zille's populist call to the President of the Republic comrade Jacob Zuma to deploy members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) to fight gang violence ravaging the poor communities of the Western Cape.

Whilst we are supportive of any measures geared towards fighting against gang violence and drug syndicates which are poisoning our communities' youth, but we remain opposed to the apartheid style militarisation of our communities through the deployment of the SANDF.

We view the call by Zille and the Democratic Alliance (DA) as nothing else, but as populist posturing and also playing with the emotions of our poor and vulnerable communities who have lost their loved ones as a result of these senseless gang violence ravaging our Townships and slums.

Furthermore, this call will reduce our SA Police Services to toothless dogs, able to bark but never to bite. The SAPS in recent has registered serious successes in the fight against crime in our communities. This has even renewed public confidence in our police services, thanks to the dedication and commitments to our men and women in blue uniforms.

We strongly believe that the SA Police Services (SAPS) with the support of organs of people's power, through the Community Policy Forums (CPF'S), Ward Committee's, Church Bodies and Civic Organisations, a concrete plan or strategy can be devised to deal with gang violence and drug syndicates that have made our working class communities a haven for gang related violence and drug abuse.

As NUMSA we remain convinced that the struggle against gang violence, including crime, should be intractably linked with the struggle to overthrow Capitalism. We strongly believe that Capitalism is the root cause of all social evils, since Capitalism as a system breeds immorality, violence and poverty.

We call on the Ministry of Police within the context of governments overall strategy of fighting crime and building of sustainable communities to increase its focus on fighting gang violence and drug syndicates particularly in the Western Cape. We believe that through community support and involvement, gang violence can be confronted with zeal and vigour.

Statement issued by Vuyo Lufele, NUMSA Western Cape Regional Secretary, July 10 2012

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