In this issue:
INTRODUCTORY LETTER
SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!
ANC CONFIRMS THAT IT WANTS THE SCORPIONS DISBANDED FOR POLITICAL REASONS
DA CALLS ON MINISTER TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT
WHY SHOULD WE PAY FOR CRIME? DA CALLS FOR TAX RELIEF
PRESIDENT ASKED ABOUT LACK OF PROGRESS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM REVIEW
DA WINS THREE YEAR STRUGGLE TO HAVE PSEUDOEPHEDRINE RECLASSIFIED
10111 CAN'T TAKE YOUR CALL
INTRODUCTORY LETTER
Having been to Zimbabwe twice in past weeks - once to monitor the
election, and then to monitor the recount of votes - it was
fascinating to see how the country is now run as a virtual police
state, with heavily armed police constantly visible, and members of
the defence force in full combat gear patrolling the streets.
One feels quite safe from any criminal elements that may be present
(Zimbabwe has a very low crime rate compared to South Africa anyway).
But one doesn't feel very secure in the presence of the Zimbabwean
police.
And that's the problem with Deputy Minister Susan Shabangu's populist
appeal to police to "shoot the bastards". It's the first step down the
road towards a police state.
Let me be quite clear: there is no party - and that certainly includes
the ANC - that has been tougher on crime, criminals, and the failures
of our criminal justice system than the Democratic Alliance.
The police and citizens of this country already have the absolute
right to use lethal force if threatened by a criminal, but for
Shabangu to call for our police to ignore their regulations (the
regulations that prevent them from shooting you or me in the back),
and to ignore our constitution, is to call for the police to act as
judge, jury and executioner.
Our police know their rights and, if the government would actually
train them to some level of proficiency, and equip them adequately, we
could turn the crime situation around. For a politician illegally to
give them the 'right' to murder whomsoever they target as a 'threat to
the community' cannot be allowed. She will not stand in court to keep
those SAPS members from jail, and our police know that.
Jacob Zuma, like the DA, called for the police to be tough on crime;
but he called for that to happen within the law. Thankfully,
Shabangu's superiors have ordered her to tone down her populist rabble
rousing. Her declarations sound wonderful, until it's your son they
shoot as he runs for a bus because they believe he's a criminal and a
threat.
One fifth of the SAPS budget is already paid back to citizens in civil
claims for shootings, beatings, being locked in cells overnight to be
gang-raped, etc. - let's not call for that to become 90%.
Kind Regards
Dianne Kohler-Barnard MP
DA spokesperson on safety and security
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SUPPORT THE COURT CHALLENGE AGAINST THE DISBANDMENT OF THE SCORPIONS!
Join the Democratic Alliance and other political parties outside the
High Court in Pretoria on 20 May 2008 to form a combined opposition to
the undemocratic, unconstitutional attempt by the ruling party to
prevent their high-ranking officials from being investigated and
prosecuted according to the laws of South Africa.
The protest will be held in front of the court building, corner of
Vermeulen and Paul Kruger Streets at 9.30 am.
We are urging all concerned citizens who can to attend the protest on
the day that the Court will hear the application from a member of the
public to stop the government's attempt to disband the Scorpions.
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ANC CONFIRMS THAT IT WANTS THE SCORPIONS DISBANDED FOR POLITICAL REASONS
In April, DA leader Helen Zille met Secretary-General of the ANC Gwede
Mantashe to discuss the future of the Scorpions, where he made it
clear that the ANC is pushing for the dissolution of the Scorpions for
its own political purposes.
"Mantashe admitted at the press briefing after the meeting that the
main reason for dissolving the Scorpions was for its 'persistent
hatred of the ANC', and labelled it a political unit on a witch-hunt
against ANC officials, including Jacob Zuma," said Zille.
Zille said that Mantashe went so far as to say that the eight year
investigation into Zuma was an 'abuse of power'.
"It is deeply ironic that Mantashe sees the Scorpions' investigation
into Zuma as an abuse of power. He cannot see that the real abuse of
power is when high-ranking ANC officials allegedly use their positions
to line their own pockets," she said.
In light of these remarks, the DA has written to Minister of Justice
Brigitte Mabandla urgently seeking a public guarantee that the cases
brought against Jacob Zuma and Jackie Selebi will not be undermined by
the decision to disband the Scorpions.
"Already the proposed disbanding of the DSO (Directorate of Special
Operations) has severely stunted its ability to fulfil its crime
fighting obligations. It has been reported that seven out of the eight
investigators assigned to the Selebi case are leaving the DSO. This
raises very real questions about whether there will be sufficient
capacity remaining in the DSO to bring both the Selebi and Zuma
matters to court effectively," said DA spokesperson on Justice Dr
Tertius Delport.
"The DA calls upon the Minister to issue a public statement in which
she details exactly what steps will be taken to guarantee the
integrity of the current DSO cases. If she fails to do so, then the
public can be forgiven for thinking that this government is no longer
serious about the cause of justice," he said.
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DA CALLS ON MINISTER TO GET THE BASICS RIGHT
While the comments made by Deputy Minister of Safety and Security
Susan Shabangu that police should simply "kill the bastards" will more
than likely resonate with the majority of South Africans who are sick
and tired of crime, it is an astonishing admission of failure on the
part of the government, said the Democratic Alliance in April.
"Rather than playing to the gallery, Shabangu and her Department
should be focusing on getting the basics of policing right: high
quality recruits, professional training and adequate equipment," said
DA spokesperson on safety and security Dianne Kohler Barnard.
"Unless these basic three elements are in place, the police will never
get the upper hand in the fight against crime."
Kohler Barnard revealed that, in reply to a DA parliamentary question,
the Minister of Safety and Security admitted that the police were
short of 7,458 bullet-proof vests. Given the fact that there were 1124
police stations in the country, this meant that there was an average
shortage of seven bullet-proof vests per station.
"To learn that the same Deputy Minister who created confusion over the
right of police to use deadly force is also partly responsible for the
failure to issue basic safety equipment shows that the Minister and
his Deputy are all about playing to the gallery and not doing their
actual jobs. The rush to score cheap political points simply serves to
distract the public from the real problems - our police are not even
properly equipped to perform their duties," said Kohler Barnard.
"Last year, I conducted a series of police station visits and learned
that most stations visited were short of torches, handcuffs, vehicles,
cell phones, radios, roadblock kits, pepper spray and portable blue
lights. We therefore call upon the Minister of Safety and Security and
his deputy to focus their attention on the basics of policing and to
make sure that every police officer is kept safe," she said.
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WHY SHOULD WE PAY FOR CRIME? DA CALLS FOR TAX RELIEF
The Democratic Alliance wrote to the South African Revenue Service in
April requesting that it consider extending a tax rebate for
security-related expenses to private citizens as well as businesses.
"South Africans spent a massive R40-billion on private security in
2007, picking up the tab for the state's failure to protect them from
crime, but individuals may not claim tax relief for these expenses,"
said DA spokesperson on finance Kobus Marais.
Private security costs in South Africa were a mere R 2 billion short
of the government's entire SA Police Service budget (R42-billion), and
more than double that of its prisons (R12-billion) and court
(R10-billion) budgets.
"Currently, individuals are offered no tax relief for private security
costs, including for erecting defensive walls, armed-response
services, razor wire, guard dogs, insurance or any other security
expenses which relate to non-business activities," said Marais.
He said the party had proposed as early as 2004 that private citizens
be allowed to claim back money they had spent on providing security
for themselves. The DA's policy document 'Freedom from Fear' called
for tax relief of up to R5 000 or 5 percent of taxable income spent by
households on verifiable private security-related expenses.
"Members of the public ought to be allowed to claim the money back, as
they are providing for themselves a service that is the responsibility
of the state," he said.
The party's 2008 Alternative Budget called for VAT rebates on
expenditure such as burglar bars, alarm systems, boom gates,
surveillance cameras, motor vehicle tracking devices and rapid
response teams.
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PRESIDENT ASKED ABOUT LACK OF PROGRESS ON THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM REVIEW
In April, the Democratic Alliance wrote to President Mbeki asking for
the public to be given an update on the review of the Criminal Justice
System (CJS).
"The review was heralded as a long overdue plan to create a new CJS
that did not suffer from inefficiency, and lack of cooperation and
coordination. It was promised that new structures and processes at
different levels would bring the courts, prisons and police together
in the fight against crime, and held the promise of significant
reductions in levels of criminal activity," said DA spokesperson on
Justice Dr Tertius Delport.
"The DA calls upon the President to issue a public statement detailing
the progress made on the CJS review. It is important that we know how
serious government is in developing strategies to combat crime,
especially given the increasing rate of murder, house robberies and
hijacking in the country," he said.
Delport said that the Presidency needed to provide the necessary
leadership in moving the review forward including, if necessary,
creating an interim structure to guide the process.
"Given the challenges faced by our prisons, the courts, and the SAPS
in the face of our high violent crime rate, the review ought to have
made significant progress to date, but unfortunately, the overall
review has made virtually none," said Delport. The DA had also
submitted parliamentary questions to the Minister of Justice asking
for an update on the review and had received no reply as yet.
"The public have a right to know what is happening," he said.
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DA WINS THREE YEAR STRUGGLE TO HAVE PSEUDOEPHEDRINE RECLASSIFIED
It was a victory for the war on tik that a DA request to the Medicines
Control Council to have pseudoephedrine reclassified had finally
succeeded, said the Democratic Alliance in March.
"A reply to a parliamentary question indicates that a request, which
the DA made to the MCC in July 2005, has finally been agreed to and,
as soon as the necessary legislative amendments are in place, it will
become much more difficult for backyard tik manufacturers to produce
this deadly substance," said DA spokesperson on health Mike Waters.
Waters said that the DA would now be tackling other measures to reduce
the supply of tik, and would call on the Minister for Safety and
Security to take a number of specific steps to halt the illegal import
of raw pseudoephedrine.
"Tik is causing havoc in many Cape Town communities, and is
increasingly filtering through into other areas, fuelling our murder
and rape epidemic. The SAPS' own figures show that 80% of crimes are
linked to drug abuse. The supply needs to be stopped, but no
comprehensive plan to do so exists. This is a scandal," he said.
The DA called on Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula to
reinstate the specialist Narcotics Bureau, which was closed in 2004 as
part of the SAPS restructuring process.
The party also called for the re-establishment of Operation Neptune, a
highly successful marine anti-poaching unit.
Waters said that research had also shown that the import of raw
pseudoephedrine was becoming increasingly tied up with perlemoen
poaching, with Chinese syndicates bringing in large supplies of the
product and exchanging it for perlemoen, so that no money ever changed
hands and deals were difficult to track.
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10111 CAN'T TAKE YOUR CALL
The DA in Mpumalanga were very concerned to learn that the SAPS number
10111 was not being answered.
"This is apparently happening all over the province. There could be
numerous reasons for the delay, but a traumatised member of the public
does not want to hear the telephone just ringing and ringing when they
need help. These calls need to be answered within three rings," said
DA provincial spokesperson on safety and security Clive Hatch.
Hatch said that the DA have posed a number of questions to the MEC for
safety and security to establish why there were delays in answering
calls made to 10111.
"The DA is trying to establish where the 10111 centres are situated,
how many people man the phones, how well equipped are these people to
handle traumatised people on the line, what is the average response
time for the SAPS to answer a call made to 10111, and what is the
average time for the SAPS to act on such a call?" said Hatch.
Hatch said that the DA was also concerned that prank calls and cutting
of telephone lines harmed the relationship between the SAPS and the
public and urged the public not to slow down a system developed to
save lives.
"Such delinquent, irresponsible acts need the stern hand of the law
and an appropriate punishment. The Department of Safety and Security
should advise the public about which calls should be made to 10111 and
which calls should be made to the local police station," he said.
Back to menu >>
MILLION MAN MARCH POSTPONED TILL JUNE
SHABANGU'S COMMENTS DANGEROUS
FRIDAY FOOL: JEWEL THIEF ATTEMPTS A "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE"
DOES ZUMA HAVE THE METAL TO MEET WITH ZILLE?
AM I WAITING TO BECOME A VICTIM?
DID YOU KNOW?
In a reply to a DA parliamentary question, it has been revealed that
backlogs at forensic science laboratories (FSL) throughout South
Africa have increased by 66% since last year.
• In 2007, there were 4,874 chemistry samples (drugs and chemical
samples) awaiting analysis, compared to 8,716 this year.
• Last year, there were 22 questioned documents (altered documents)
awaiting processing; this year, there are 387.
• Total backlogs of evidence awaiting analysis have increased from
6,086 (2007) to 10,121 (2008).
• The waiting period for results has increased from 54 days (2007) to
60 days (2008).
• Waiting periods for ballistics tests have increased from 40 days to
42 days and chemistry waiting periods have increased from 56 days to
68 days.
• Staff vacancies have increased from 15 (May 2007) to 24 (December 2007).
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