ACDP Votes against Safety and Security Budget

Dr. Kenneth Meshoe MP - Leader of the African Christian Democratic Party

Thursday, 13th June 2002

In Parliament today Dr. Kenneth Meshoe Leader of the African Christian Democratic Party and member of the Portfolio Committee on Safety and Security gave the following speech during the Safety and Security Budget Vote, casting the ACDP’s vote against the Budget:


On behalf of the ACDP, I also want to congratulate honourable Charles Ncakula on his appointment as the Minister for Safety and Security. He has very big shoes to fill as many people out there are becoming frustrated and impatient because of the very high levels of crime.

Whenever members of the portfolio committee for Safety and Security are given a presentation on the work of the police, as happened yesterday, we hear heart-warming and glowing reports. We are given statistics and figures that are not matched by the experiences on the ground.

Among the things we were told yesterday, is that crime has stabilised and that the police want to move from stabilisation to crime reduction. We were also told that the morale in the police is high and that the success rate in arrests has also risen.

Madam Speaker, people correctly expect more from the police when they hear such reports. The fact is that a few hours ago, Cosatu led a protest march against both Metrorail and government because of the high crime levels on our trains. At their press conference yesterday, they highlighted the plight of mothers who have lost their children and loved ones to criminals on the trains.

Some of the children were thrown out of the windows of fast moving trains, leading to their unfortunate deaths.

When the ACDP calls for permanent police presence on the trains to ensure the safety of passengers, we are told about budget constraints and lack of human resources. A lot of money that should be used for employing many more police and paying them very well is wasted on countless parties and cocktails that are always taking place in parliament.

We agree with Cosatu that government and Metrorail do not take passenger safety on trains seriously. How much longer will family members whose loved use trains and taxis remain unsure as to whether they will see them come back home alive?

Desperate people resort to vigilantism to try to stem out crime from their communities. They are then arrested much quicker than the criminals who caused them to resort to such tactics. Where is justice?

In January this year, my constituency office was broken into and a lot of equipment stolen. When I was told that no investigation was taking place, I appealed to the Director in charge of the Vosloorus Police Station for help, but to no avail. I then phoned the SAPS headquarters in Pretoria on a few occasions to get help, but only got empty promises.

Members of the public are always told to come forward with information to the police. In many cases, if the police do not pass on that information to the criminals, then they do not follow up on the leads they are given by the public. In the case of my constituency office, the investigating officer did nothing when he was told where the stolen computers from my office were. He did not follow the leads that were given to him.

When I phoned Police headquarters in Pretoria to ask for this case to be given to another investigating officer, I was told to wait and they would come back to me after the weekend. I have been waiting now for about three weeks and all I am getting from the Police headquarters is a deafening silence. I even had to close down my constituency office because the investigating officer told us that he did not think that the members of my staff were safe in that office. So, we had no choice but to move offices.

Now what are the police there for if not to ensure the safety of members of the public, including those who run the constituency offices of Members of Parliament?

Madam Speaker, a relevant question to ask is if members of parliament and of the Portfolio Committee for Safety and Security get such bad service from the police, how can we be sure that ordinary members of the public, particularly the poorest of the poor will get any service from them at all? How can we be expected to support a budget vote that will not help us feel safer in our offices? This situation is not only appalling, but it is a disgrace.

We are told that the success rate in arrests has risen and yet, we don’t see that on the ground. If the police do not arrest the criminals who stole computers from my office and then restore them to me, then I will have to claim my computers from the Police headquarters in Pretoria. They must do their job with diligence.

The ACDP will vote against this budget.


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For further comment please call Dr. Kenneth Moeshoe MP at (021) 4033521 or ACDP Media Liaison Liza Bloemetje at 082 4781037