Cape Town – Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko has called on all South Africans to join hands with the police in the fight against crime.
Briefing the media on the achievements of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster in the first 100 days in office of the current administration, the Minister said South Africans cannot afford to be bystanders as crime affects everybody.
“The fight against crime and corruption requires a strong partnership between government and all sectors of society.
“Crime affects all of us and none of us can afford to be a bystander in the effort to build safer communities,” he said.
The Minister urged South Africans to participate in community safety forums, join neighbourhood watches and report crime whenever it happens.
“Criminals are in the minority. We cannot allow them to hold all of us at ransom. South Africa should unite and act against any form of crime and corruption,” he said.
Levels of crime reduced
According to crime statistics released by the police, between the 2008/09 financial year and December last year, there has been a general decrease in serious crimes.
The Minister said the cluster was focusing on increasing the protection of rights of the most vulnerable in society – women, children and the elderly.
“As part of our commitment to support victims of sexual violence, 31 regional courts have been upgraded into sexual offences courtrooms compliant with the new Sexual Offences Courts Model since its inception in August 2013 to date,” he said.
Minister Nhleko said an additional 10 courtrooms would be upgraded in the latter part of the current financial year.
The Minister said the cluster has also continued to work with the stakeholders within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) national task team to respond to crimes that are perpetrated based on sexual orientation.
He said a rapid response team had been established to attend to hate crimes against LGBTI persons on an urgent basis.
“Through the work of this task team, 21 of the 45 cases on the rapid response records have been finalised,” he said.
Prisons overcrowding brought down
The Minister said the cluster has, over the past few years, gone into prisons to address the trial backlog in a bid to deal with overcrowding in prisons.
He said the number of remand detainees was brought down over the past few years, and that currently, the number stands at less than 41 000 persons – down from 50 551 in 2010.
The cluster was also committed to the speedy resolution of cases involving children, the Minister said.
“In this regard, Legal Aid SA is currently implementing a programme to actively track children who are awaiting trial so that their matters finalised as speedily as possible.
“There are currently only about 110 children in custody awaiting the finalisation of their cases,” he said.
He said this had come down from 868 in 2009. – SAnews.gov.za
