Alarm bells ringing over crime in Gauteng-SETH THORNE

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2024-08-06 at 16:31 #456836
Nat Quinn
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Alarm bells ringing over crime in Gauteng-SETH THORNE

Officials in the country’s economic hub, Gauteng, are sounding the alarm on the provincial government’s plans to tackle the province’s high crime rate.

Their concerns relate to the recently tabled R2.3 billion Community Safety budget for the province for the financial year, a decline of R374.6 million (13.9%) compared to the previous year’s R2.7 billion.

The Gauteng Legislature’s Community Safety Committee report dated 30 July “expressed concerns about the implications the decrease on the budget… might have on service delivery, considering the high level of crime in the province.”

Additionally, there have been some concerns about the effectiveness of some of Gauteng’s outlined crime-fighting strategies.

However, others have said that their effort will suffice.

Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, said that the trimmed budget still has “strengthening the battle against crime, corruption, vandalism, and lawlessness in the province,” as the administration’s priority.

It was “tabled in an environment characterised by deep fiscal constraints and a weak economic outlook,” said Maile.

Wide-ranging promises of a tough-on-crime approach

Gauteng, the most populous province in South Africa, continues to experience challenges with crime, though the specifics can vary by area. This has been earmarked by the provincial government as a key issue for residents and a major deterrent of investment.

Generally, the province sees high rates of violent and serious crimes, including armed robbery, assault, and carjacking.

As an example, according to the most recently available crime statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Gauteng saw reported contact crime figures climb from 50,039 in 2022 to 51,327 in 2023.

When Premier Panyaza Lesufi first took office in 2022, he placed one of his apex priorities on “crime, corruption and lawlessness” in the province.

In the May general elections, the ANC lost its majority in the province. Lesufi was reelected Premier, with the support of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Negotiations with the DA fell through, thus prompting the formation of a ‘minority cabinet.’

At the announcement of his seventh administration’s 10-person executive, Lesufi announced a shake-up in the province’s crime-fighting efforts, moving the formerly stand-alone Department of Community Safety into his own office.

Lesufi said that this is “so that we can lead and champion the fight against crime, corruption and lawlessness.”

“If we can’t consolidate our fights against crime, we will lose all the necessary investments and job opportunities in our province,” which contributes over a third to the country’s GDP, said Lesufi.

During his speech tabling Community Safety’s budget on 31 July, Lesufi said that he is optimistic about the effectiveness of the budget, revealing that R1.1 billion of this has been channelled towards:
- Recruiting more people to fight crime;
- Provide more tools of trade to law enforcement agencies;
- Lease more helicopters;
- Train more people as drone pilots;
- Establishing a Provincial Integrated Command Centre (PICC) for integration of crime fighting structures.
The provincial government also said that it would soon establish “new strategic units” within law enforcement agencies.

These include those to tackle the construction mafia, land invasions and infrastructure protection.

“We are releasing a unit that will protect those that want to bring new investment and construct new buildings in our province,” said Lesufi.

The Premier promised that from 1 September 2024, there will be “a new unit that will protect all land in our province and to ensure no-one invades land they do not own.”

Lesufi also said that Gauteng is “establishing a new unit that will protect two critical installations in our province: Eskom facilities including transformers … [and] Rand Water installations to [that these are] not disturbed by criminal activities.”

Not everyone is on board

Various parties in the provincial legislature, including the DA, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+), have questioned Lesufi’s promise to bring down the high crime rates.

Crezane Bosch, a DA member of the provincial legislature (MPL), cited the Premier’s previous promises of installing CCTV in all townships and hostels, purchasing 300 new vehicles, acquiring 1800 drones and five helicopters, the establishment of a Command Centre, and the bill of the crime prevention wardens as reasons for their apprehension.

“The Department confirmed the procurement of only 30 drones and two helicopters – the wage bill for the crime wardens increased by R600 million, yet the budget for goods and services decreased,” said Bosch.

“The Integrated Provincial Command Centre… has been on the budget for five years, since I first joined this legislature, but remains a figment of our imagination, a pipe dream for the residents of Gauteng.”

“Panic buttons have been distributed in limited areas, but how does this address crime without an integrated command centre to monitor, analyse data, and allocate resources effectively,” added the DA MPL.

Overall, “this budget should inspire confidence that it intends to address these issues [of rising crime rates in Gauteng], but with reductions, this is not the case,” said Bosch.

EFF MPL Jeannette Maloka, whose party supported the overall budget, said that her party’s caucus would not support the Community Safety proposal.

“This reduction comes at a time when the crime rate in Gauteng is alarmingly high. How can we justify a decreased budget in the face of rising crime?” and increased road fatalities, said Maloka.

FF+ MPL Jaco Mulder said that “time will tell if the move of the Department of Community Safety to the Office of the Premier was a wise one.”

“The FF Plus is of a keen opinion that this key department should have a dedicated and fit-for-purpose MEC implementing effective crime intelligence systems in Gauteng,” he added.

Premier Lesufi’s office did not respond to queries by the time of publication.

SOURCE:Alarm bells ringing over crime in Gauteng – BusinessTech
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Alarm bells ringing over crime in Gauteng-SETH THORNE

Officials in the country’s economic hub, Gauteng, are sounding the alarm on the provincial government’s plans to tackle the province’s high crime rate.

Their concerns relate to the recently tabled R2.3 billion Community Safety budget for the province for the financial year, a decline of R374.6 million (13.9%) compared to the previous year’s R2.7 billion.

The Gauteng Legislature’s Community Safety Committee report dated 30 July “expressed concerns about the implications the decrease on the budget… might have on service delivery, considering the high level of crime in the province.”

Additionally, there have been some concerns about the effectiveness of some of Gauteng’s outlined crime-fighting strategies.

However, others have said that their effort will suffice.

Gauteng MEC of Finance and Economic Development, Lebogang Maile, said that the trimmed budget still has “strengthening the battle against crime, corruption, vandalism, and lawlessness in the province,” as the administration’s priority.

It was “tabled in an environment characterised by deep fiscal constraints and a weak economic outlook,” said Maile.

Wide-ranging promises of a tough-on-crime approach

Gauteng, the most populous province in South Africa, continues to experience challenges with crime, though the specifics can vary by area. This has been earmarked by the provincial government as a key issue for residents and a major deterrent of investment.

Generally, the province sees high rates of violent and serious crimes, including armed robbery, assault, and carjacking.

As an example, according to the most recently available crime statistics from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Gauteng saw reported contact crime figures climb from 50,039 in 2022 to 51,327 in 2023.

When Premier Panyaza Lesufi first took office in 2022, he placed one of his apex priorities on “crime, corruption and lawlessness” in the province.

In the May general elections, the ANC lost its majority in the province. Lesufi was reelected Premier, with the support of the Democratic Alliance (DA). Negotiations with the DA fell through, thus prompting the formation of a ‘minority cabinet.’

At the announcement of his seventh administration’s 10-person executive, Lesufi announced a shake-up in the province’s crime-fighting efforts, moving the formerly stand-alone Department of Community Safety into his own office.

Lesufi said that this is “so that we can lead and champion the fight against crime, corruption and lawlessness.”

“If we can’t consolidate our fights against crime, we will lose all the necessary investments and job opportunities in our province,” which contributes over a third to the country’s GDP, said Lesufi.

During his speech tabling Community Safety’s budget on 31 July, Lesufi said that he is optimistic about the effectiveness of the budget, revealing that R1.1 billion of this has been channelled towards:

Recruiting more people to fight crime;

Provide more tools of trade to law enforcement agencies;

Lease more helicopters;

Train more people as drone pilots;

Establishing a Provincial Integrated Command Centre (PICC) for integration of crime fighting structures.

The provincial government also said that it would soon establish “new strategic units” within law enforcement agencies.

These include those to tackle the construction mafia, land invasions and infrastructure protection.

“We are releasing a unit that will protect those that want to bring new investment and construct new buildings in our province,” said Lesufi.

The Premier promised that from 1 September 2024, there will be “a new unit that will protect all land in our province and to ensure no-one invades land they do not own.”

Lesufi also said that Gauteng is “establishing a new unit that will protect two critical installations in our province: Eskom facilities including transformers … [and] Rand Water installations to [that these are] not disturbed by criminal activities.”

Not everyone is on board

Various parties in the provincial legislature, including the DA, Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Freedom Front Plus (FF+), have questioned Lesufi’s promise to bring down the high crime rates.

“The Department confirmed the procurement of only 30 drones and two helicopters – the wage bill for the crime wardens increased by R600 million, yet the budget for goods and services decreased,” said Bosch.

“The Integrated Provincial Command Centre… has been on the budget for five years, since I first joined this legislature, but remains a figment of our imagination, a pipe dream for the residents of Gauteng.”

“Panic buttons have been distributed in limited areas, but how does this address crime without an integrated command centre to monitor, analyse data, and allocate resources effectively,” added the DA MPL.

Overall, “this budget should inspire confidence that it intends to address these issues [of rising crime rates in Gauteng], but with reductions, this is not the case,” said Bosch.

EFF MPL Jeannette Maloka, whose party supported the overall budget, said that her party’s caucus would not support the Community Safety proposal.

“This reduction comes at a time when the crime rate in Gauteng is alarmingly high. How can we justify a decreased budget in the face of rising crime?” and increased road fatalities, said Maloka.

FF+ MPL Jaco Mulder said that “time will tell if the move of the Department of Community Safety to the Office of the Premier was a wise one.”

“The FF Plus is of a keen opinion that this key department should have a dedicated and fit-for-purpose MEC implementing effective crime intelligence systems in Gauteng,” he added.

Premier Lesufi’s office did not respond to queries by the time of publication.