The Democratic Alliance (DA) is concerned that Mpumalanga residents reported the highest percentage of people who do not feel safe walking around their own neighborhoods as crime is rising in the province.
According to the Victims of Crime Report released by Statistics South Africa (STATS SA) on Tuesday (27 August 2024) this week, Mpumalanga recorded the highest proportion of individuals who felt unsafe walking alone at night with a percentage of 74,7%, followed by Western Cape (70,6%), Gauteng (69,7%) and Eastern Cape (65,6%).
The report also mentioned that Mpumalanga has the highest proportion of individuals who experienced street robbery (1,5%), followed by Gauteng and Eastern Cape both at (1,2%).
The DA will write to Community Safety, Security and Liaison MEC, Jacky Macie, requesting that his department promote and strengthen collaboration between the South African Police Services (SAPS), community members, private security firms, and local neighborhood watches and police forums. The main objective of this cooperative endeavour must be to address the province’s rising crime rate. The SAPS has been criticized by some locals of being corrupt, thereby rendering them incapable of combating crime in the province.
Only the DA has an effective and practical plan to rescue South Africa from crime and lawlessness. We would like to request the government adopt our plan, which includes the following:
- Make policing a provincial and local government responsibility.
- Fight corruption within the police.
- Retrain police officers to protect with pride.
- Create an effective drug fighting force.
- Hire people with passion for policing.
- Strive for effective arrests, prosecutions, and convictions.
The DA will continue the fight to ensure that all South Africans are afforded equal protection and safety by government and SAPS as enshrined within our Constitution.