SAPU WELCOMES CRIME STATISTICS AS A CHALLENGE TO ALL OF US

The South African Policing Union welcomes the release of the crime statistics by the SAPS

management with Police Minister Bheki Cele in parliament with the sense that as much as

there is a slight decline in the murder rate during this period compared to the same period last

year, it is clear that if we could join hands we would certainly make the difference in the fight

against crime. These statistics point to the fact that crime prevention and the fight against crime

is a challenge for all of us South Africans, the law abiding citizenry and law enforcement

agencies. The crime statistics for the second quarter, that is the term between July and

September 2023, are not something we should be proud of as South Africans.

SAPU would like to call upon all stakeholders including the police management, religious,

business, traditional leaders with the general public to join hands with the police in the fight

against crime. We should guard against finger pointing and political point scoring. We call upon

political formation not to exploit the crime situation in our country for selfish political scoring as

we approach the next general elections. In welcoming the government's selfless efforts in the

fight against crime SAPU commends the authorities for the establishment of the Border

Management Authority.

We would also like to call for the national roll-out of the Peace Officers popularly referred to as

amaPhanyaphanya in Gauteng. We welcome and acknowledge all progressive initiatives to

combat crime and call for positive engagements amongst relevant stakeholders to iron out any

legal and constitutional challenges that might exist in order to roll out initiatives like these

across all provinces. Extra boots and human resources will be of great value to the men and

women in blue whom we acknowledge do not meet the United Nations ratio.



The slight difference in these statistics show that we are heading in the right direction. It will

add no value in the primary task of eradicating crime in our society to blame each other. We

have to improve on these statistics. As functionary members on the ground we pledge not to

sleep on duty until we reclaim our streets from merciless criminals. During this festive season

the men and women in blue commit once again to ensure that all law abiding citizens enjoy this

period.