MEC takes stock after 100 days
IT HAS been just over 100 days since Alan Winde took office as the MEC for community safety.
Winde analysed his first 100 days in office and listed a number of achievements, among them the R10 000 reward given to community members who report an illegal firearm when the police recover it; the offer of R5 million for the reservists programme; the deployment of government staff as commissioners of oaths at police stations; and the launch of the crimefighter of the month award.
Winde said there had been various challenges in this short period, but the status quo in fighting crime could not remain.
“Further urgent efforts, through collaboration from all relevant stakeholders, are needed to address these challenges, as we need to reduce the 10 murders per day in this province,” Winde said.
“I set myself the goal of the Western Cape becoming the safest province,” he said. What residents were currently faced with was untenable, he said.
“Every day, an average of 10 people are murdered in our province.
“Many are innocent children, bystanders going about their daily business and women in their own homes.”
Winde said the Western Cape’s police-to-population ratio remained at an alarming 1 officer for every 509 residents.
In Cape Town, it was worse at 1:560. The national average was 1:375.
He said these numbers were abysmal, and more resources would undoubtedly assist. “But it is also clear to me that conventional policing methods will not address this scourge.”
Winde said they needed to move crime-fighting efforts into the 21st century.
Winde said he had been advised by his department to award “our first R10 000 as part of our illegal firearm confiscation programme”.
“We are hoping to issue further rewards in the near future, and are driving this matter with the provincial commissioner.
“I want to urge residents to continue reporting illegal firearms, as we need to get them off our streets.”
Winde added that as an additional intervention he had engaged with City of Cape Town mayoral committee member JP Smith around law enforcement officers facilitating the confiscation process.
“These discussions are progressing,” Winde said.
He said his time in office had been marked by building his department’s capacity to fight crime and making sure that Police Minister Bheki Cele accounts for his failures and takes corrective steps.
I want to urge residents to continue reporting illegal firearms as we need to get them off our streets. Alan Winde MEC for Community Safety