Police are disempowered, can’t stem crime wave – opposition

Chronic undertraining, under-resourcing and underequipping of the police, plus the ongoing crisis in police intelligence, is behind the rise in violent and organised crime in SA, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of police Zakhele Mbhele says.

The Economic Freedom Fighters criticised the crime statistics report for relying on cases reported to the police stations which, it said, is only a limited assessment and not the true picture of crime in South Africa.

EFF spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said Minister of Police Fikile Mbalula’s statement there had been a reduction in some crimes did not reflect the Saps’ ability to combat crime because the majority of people felt the police’s responses were ineffective.

“The crimes of sexual assault, in particular against children, are underrepresented by these statistics for the obvious reason that many victims do not report to the police,” he said.

“In essence, the statistics that matter, if we are to restore public confidence and trust in our police, are those of resolving reported crimes.

“Our police are among the most unprofessional, inefficient and unreliable public servants, with little ability to investigate and combat crimes.”

Mbhele also blamed poor leadership, professionalism and weak accountability for police being unable to get a grip on crime.

But the ruling party saw it differently, attributing the 1.8% general decline in crime over the past 10 years to the ANC government’s crime-fighting efforts.

ANC caucus spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli said the party was optimistic because of the 4% drop in rapes reported in 2016-17, compared with the previous year; the decline in contact crime by 3.3% and the 6.7% drop in assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

But the murder rate increase of 1.8% and of 0.4% for attempted murders, plus the increase in aggravated robbery and carjacking, indicated society was becoming increasingly unsafe, Mhlauli said.