It is evident that the Corona Virus has the most devastating effects in the lives of the people from all spheres of life and the poor and the working class remain at the lowest level of the food chain, and they suffer the most. Ever since the first diagnosis of the covid 19 patients in South Africa our lives have never been the same again. The inequalities in our society become crystal clear and the people who can afford quality health care through medical aid schemes are in a better position.
The virus always changes its variation and that require high level of vigilance from the doctors and medical practitioners and complete support from all people.
As we buckle up and prepare for the third wave, we must keep in mind the importance of unity as South Africans and support each other in these trying times. The fight against the Covid-19 will require more than just putting on masks and using sanitizer but a united South Africa can defeat this pandemic. Like any other crises these Covid-19 presented us with an opportunity to reflect and see the importance of working together as it is said that “umntu ngumntu ngabantu” which means we all need each other in the fight against this invisible enemy.
The African National Congress is committed in creating a safe and secure society. This commitment clearly outlined in the Strategy and tactic of the ANC which is a guiding document of the ANC. The ANC is consistent in this call from the Freedom Charter to the 2017 National Conference resolutions. Safe and security are the cornerstones of our democratic South Africa as it creates a fertile environment for all other activities to take place including economic activities.
It is out of a safe community where economic activities can happen freely and that will create safe environment for the investors to come and invest in South Africa. We have witnessed the impact of the pandemic on the global economy, and we have heard President Cyril Ramaphosa in the 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA) speaking about the need to intensify the Economic recovery plan and that plan can only be fulfilled perfectly in a safe and secure society.
Hence, the President emphasised the need to prioritise to curb cable theft crimes, railways infrastructure vandalism, land invasion, construction site disruptions and attacks on the truck drivers as all these criminal activities hamper the economic activities and indeed such activities can only freely occur in a safe and secure society. The fight against crime is very important because it directly affects the fight against poverty, inequality and unemployment.
Chapter two of the South African Constitution emphasize the importance of having safe and secure society through the Bill of Rights that we all have. This then prove the commitment of the African National Congress in creating a safe environment for all irrespective of race or ethnicity but making sure that everyone is equal before the law and everyone’s rights are protected in the Constitution of the South Africa. The correlation from ANC policy to government highlight the importance of having a peaceful society.
The NDP clearly outline the kind of society we envisage as South African people. It is in Chapter 12 of the National Development Plan (NDP) where it clearly stipulates the vision of creating a safe South Africa where woman will be free, both at work and at home and where children will enjoy a community life that is free of fear.
That is a society we are striving for and all our efforts as the department is to reach that destination. It is through a well-resourced and professional and single police system as sated in the Strategy and Tactic of the ANC. The NDP noted the key areas needed to be achieve in our society, the need to strengthen the criminal justice system, demilitarised the police, ensure that the police service is professional and the importance of mobilising the community to play a central role in making sure that their communities are safe for all.
The program of combating crime become instrumental in creating a safe and secure community. The African National Congress in its priorities it has clearly stated that it seeks to reduce crime by 50% in the decade. In trying to make this target a reality the department has decided to prioritise the province with high crimes and allocated more baseline budget and resource and indeed each according to his need Hon Chair. In that regard the Western Cape, KwaZulu Natal, Mpumalanga and the Eastern Cape have been prioritised.
Further, the department looked at the different police stations with high level of contact crimes have also been prioritised to curb crime in these hotspots. The program of police visibility is one of the most instrumental tools in place that is used to fight crime and prevent crime. The members of the blue uniform will be deployed in different provinces to provide support to other police and stabilised the crime in different areas that has been identified with high crime rate or hotspots in country and all this effort is to ensure that South Africa become a safe place for all.
The African National Congress take the fight against crime very serious and the Strategy and Tactic view this fight as more equal to a war, because these contact crimes happen in our communities where our people live on daily bases, and indeed they create as hostile environment and they do not allow decent living conditions for the masses of our people. In trying to understand these conditions one must have an appreciation of the historical injustices of the past from the apartheid colonial system. Hence in the S&T it is further argued that when combating crime, we must understand that crime is born out of a particular mindset and historical conditions that drive elements of crime problem.
However, crime does not only come as results of poverty and unemployment only as many people believe, but some rich people who are generally greedy and who are always ready to accumulative more profit sometimes deploy contact crimes to fulfil their dirty desires of making more profit in the business space.
In conclusion a safe and secure Society would require a collective effort by all different stake holders, that include intensifying the Community Police Forums (CPF’s) and ensuring that they are all well trained and prepared. The police department must continue as per the resolution of the ANC to increase the police capacity numerically on the ground with sufficient tools of trade as we have witnessed that many police have been killed on duty and that will require increase more police personnel for the purpose of back up where there is a need. We must mobilise our communities in making sure that we make it difficult for the criminals to commit crime.
There is a need to adapt to the current times of technology, the police service must evolve with times and find creative and technological ways of fighting and preventing crime like using “drones” in the fight of combating crime. We continue to support the budget vote as the African National Congress and further we motivate the departments to find other creative means of fundraising to ensure that they meet the targets.
The government of the African National Congress is will continue to expand the working relations and cooperation’s among the law enforcement agencies to fight crime and also pay more attention to the program of improving the criminal justice system so that it responds, promptly, sufficient and efficiently in the call to fight against crime in South Africa and indeed to create a safe and secure South Africa. The strategy for achieving a safe community is based on progressive relations between all different stake holders the police and the society. Indeed, the safe society that will and as outlined by the NPD, will be a product of collective effort and we must appreciate that our challenges are structural, and they will need all the necessary efforts from human resource, to all kind of resources we can use to fight crime and indeed together we can take South Africa forward.
