Cape Town – The provincial ANC says it is concerned by the lack of prioritisation by the provincial DA government of mass murders in coloured and black communities.
Speaking at a press briefing, ANC deputy chief whip Khalid Sayed and provincial ANC community safety spokesperson Mesuli Kama criticised the provincial government and its Community Safety Directorate for seemingly failing to urgently and adequately respond to violent crimes perpetrated in local communities.
Sayed said that instead of focusing on alleviating the plight of people of colour, the government was concentrating on creating a rift between the province and national policing departments for the benefit of the DA.
“More people will die at the hands of violent killers, all because the DA provincial government does not care about black lives.
“Eight people were killed in Manenberg in the space of a week, followed by the mass murders reported in Enkanini, Endlovini, Diep River, Gugulethu, Kuyasa and Old Crossroads.
“Instead of focusing on how to combat these massacres, the DA is focused on advocating for Ukraine, completely avoiding a major crisis for several working-class communities across the province.”
In a written reply to one of its questions posed to the Acting Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais, last week, the ANC said that Marais had indicated that between 2019 and 2021 there were 30 mass murders committed in the province.
“These killings mainly affect black African and coloured people. Perhaps this is the reason the premier and acting MEC remain unbothered. None of them visited the bereaved families or the scenes of these murders, and there have been no special announcements and interventions by the premier and his government. We cannot keep quiet while violence claims so many of our people’s lives,” Kama said.
Meanwhile, the standing committee chairperson on community safety Reagen Allen has decried the shortfall of police recruits set to be sent over from the national police department for the current financial year.
Allen said while seeking clarity on a statement made by Police Minister Bheki Cele during his visit to Cape Town a few weeks ago he had discovered that out of the 1 939 police recruits the province was supposed to get, it would in fact only be receiving 1 118.
“Whilst we welcome the enlisting of these recruits, we are concerned that the province is not getting its money’s worth as we are receiving fewer police officers than what was budgeted for. To effectively fight crime, Pretoria needs to ensure that the management of SAPS is improved such that we are better capacitated,” Allen said.
Cape Argus
