Top cops must focus on crime

Four more women were murdered and dumped in open velds in Soweto, while senior police heads are fighting personal battles.

The head of police watchdog Ipid and the acting national police commissioner aired their dirty laundry in parliament‚ which included death threats and attempts to “capture” Ipid. Ipid executive director Robert McBride and SAPS’s Khomotso Phahlane traded serious allegations against each other during a tense meeting of parliament’s portfolio committee on police on Tuesday.

The two were summoned by the committee in the wake of claims that Phahlane had been interfering in Ipid’s investigation into his alleged corrupt dealings with SAPS service providers.

The committee has now called on Police Minister Fikile Mbalula to intervene in the saga and he’s also expected to appear before the committee in the next two weeks.

The fight between the two heads will most definitely affect SAPS efforts to combat crime, which is escalating. Phahlane cannot possibly keep his eye on crime while his focus is on McBride.

The latest crime statistics, released in March, for the period April 1 to December, show a total of 14 333 cases of murder reported in that period. In the first quarter last year, there was a 0.6% increase in murder compared to the previous year, and a 1.9% increase in the second quarter.

While murder had decreased in the Northern Cape, Limpopo, the Free State, Eastern Cape and North West, it remained a problem in the Western Cape where there was a 0.7% increase. KwaZuluNatal had a 1.7% increase, while murders went up by 3.7% in Gauteng and 6.8% in Mpumalanga.

Mbalula needs to take a decisive step in dealing with the fight between the police heads. He needs to appoint another person to act while Phahlane is investigated for corruption. Alternatively, he could make a new permanent appointment, because Phahlane is only the acting national police commissioner, which means that position is officially vacant.

Crime is a serious problem, and the country cannot afford to have senior officials take their eyes off the ball due to personal tiffs.

Residents of Soweto live in fear, and want answers, and so do the hundreds of thousands of victims of rape, murder, hijacking and robbery around the country.