Bheki Cele: The Minister of Grandstanding

1 August 2022

Note to Editors: Please find attached soundbite by Okkie Terblanche MP.

Police Minister Bheki Cele once again put on a performance for the cameras this morning instead of announcing real interventions to address the violence crisis in our country.

"The truth of the matter is Bheki Cele does nothing", said DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police, Okkie Terblanche.

"He turns up after a serious crime has been committed, like the horrific Krugersdorp rapes, makes emotional statements and empty promises for the cameras, and then proceeds to do nothing. He is the Minister of Grandstanding."

The last few months have been some of the bloodiest in the history of our democracy. In July, media reports indicated that more than 38 people died in mass shootings across the country, while the fourth quarter crime statistics revealed that more than 67 people are murdered and 153 people are raped in South Africa every day. 364 people are the victims of violent robberies every single day.

Yet, whenever Minister Cele appears at the scenes of these crimes, there had not been a single sensible announcement or intervention: not on capacitating the police force, not on training, not on improved facilities – nothing.

The DA questions Minister Cele’s claim at today’s press conference that there is no shortage of rape kits in any police station. The DA has embarked on massive police station oversight across the country and we will soon report the real state of SAPS stations.

"Minister Cele has been constantly failing over the last decade. He has blood on his hands," Terblanche said.

That is why the DA launched a petition calling for Minister Cele’s head to roll. This petition is gaining traction by the day and now has just short of 25 000 signatures.

Minister Cele does not care about his mandate to protect and serve South Africans. If he did, he would stop grandstanding and ensure SAPS had the equipment and expertise to fight crime.

Issued by Okkie Terblanche, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of Police, 1 August 2022