Pretoria - Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa says the police will step up their fight against alcohol and drug abuse, as it has been identified as an underlying factor that increases the violent nature of crime in South Africa.
Mthethwa said while the police were doing all they can to deal with drug lords and destroying drug factories, he said more needed to be done to deal with substance abuse as this, combined with other socio-economic factors like unemployment, was frustrating efforts to make a dent on serious crimes.
Mthethwa said this shortly after announcing the much anticipated crime statistics at the SA Police Service Tshwane Training Academy on Thursday.
He said the police would also step up their efforts to clamp down on illegal liquor outlets that often operate without liquor licences and dispense alcohol without following regulations like the age limit.
“We have seen the proliferation of these liquor outlets, both legal and illegal, and if you look at some of the [crime statistics] graphs, some of the murders start by arguments, followed by common assault, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH), attempted murder and murder.
“…If people just run these [liquor] outlets, and we have seen that they are the major driver of crime, and they run them without limitations, I don’t think that is going to help us,” he said.
Zooming into policing, Mthethwa said 1 096 694, 944 litres of liquor were confiscated and 92 929 identified illegal liquor premises were closed down during 2011/12 compared to 1 824 865, 82 litres confiscated and 74 547 premises closed in 2012/13.
In an interview with SAnews after the announcement of the stats, Mthethwa said police would continue to enforce the law, while allowing space for provincial authorities to deal with making laws and implementing them to win the fight against alcohol abuse.
He also said unemployment and lack of recreational and sports facilities contributed to substance abuse, and added that he was concerned at the fact that the users of drugs were becoming younger.
“Socio-economic conditions have a direct link with what is happening in communities… What happens with youngsters that are employed and those that go to school and go home after school is that there are no sports facilities for them,” he said.
Mthethwa said strong partnerships were required to fight against drug abuse, and added that various government departments and the community had a role to play in rehabilitating drug addicts, while the police would be able to focus on policing drug lords.
He said provincial and local government departments also needed to demolish drug dens, also known as lolly lounges, as those buildings were in most cases owned by the state.
“The police still have a job to do… to ensure that drug laboratories are dealt with and eliminated, [and] drug lords are followed up.”
He said the Asset Forfeiture Unit was also conducting lifestyle audits on alleged drug lords that have been fingered by members of the community.
Despite crimes like murder going up in the past year, Mthethwa said a reduction in other categories - including sexual assault – was encouraging, and showed that police had crime under control.
Gareth Newham, the head of the Governance, Crime and Justice Division at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), said he was disappointed at the increase in crimes like murder, residential burglary and car hijackings.
“The positives are that the overall crime categories are going down and that there has been reduction in thefts and shop lifting and assault. I think we are a bit concerned with the increase in murder and attempted murder and assault [with intent to do grievous bodily harm].”
Newham also called on police to release stats on a monthly basis to help members of the public to identify with crime trends to enhance safety and awareness. – SAnews.gov.za
