Cape Flats residents are tired of Minister Cele’s cheap talk

THE PAST few weeks we’ve seen Minister Cele visiting the Cape flats after several mass murders in Gugulethu and Khayelitsha. What he fails to tell us is how many convictions have taken place for these murders since his last visit. Because until there are convictions all his cheap rhetoric remains hollow to many of us who live in fear of crime in Khayelitsha.

His incessant imbizos are a waste of time and ridiculous especially when you note that this is the same minister who voted for the cut of policing budget by R47 billion.

Minister Cele increased VIP protection by R1.4bn so he and his comrades in corruption can continue to live lavish lifestyles with more protection in their gated mansions.

Talk is cheap and meaningless Minister Cele, wake up and do the following:

1. Stop defunding SAPS, reverse the budget cuts and bring police deployment up to international best practice levels.

2. Urgently employ more detectives and properly resource them as no detective can handle a case load of over 200 cases.

3. Bring back the specialised units and equip them with specialised detectives and prosecutors.

In the meantime let the City of Cape Town build their capacity parallel to that of SAPS to do that they know needs to be done to give our citizens relief from crime and violence.

The contribution being made by the LEAP project is proving to be very valuable as it is taking 20 to 30 guns off the street every month across the city. This means that our communities are safer from illegal guns and criminals who used to be a threat to their well-being. Crime is rapidly dropping according to the latest crime stats. The murder rate has been tremendously reduced through this project.

This initiative proves that the Western Cape and City of Cape Town government are doing their best to shield their residents from violent crime, gangsterism and failures of Minister Cele’s leadership that keeps cutting police budget.

Enough is enough. Cele must be fired.

THULANI DASA | Neighbourhood Watch Member Kuyasa, Khayelitsha