The following is an extract from a speech delivered by DA NMB Mayoral Candidate, Athol Trollip, to the media after conducting oversight visits at police stations in the gang-ridden Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth on Friday 29 January.
Today I visited the SAPS stations in Port Elizabeth’s Northern Areas, to conduct oversight with DA Shadow Minister of Police, Zak Mbhele.
The South African Police Service in Port Elizabeth’s Northern Areas is waging an uphill battle against rampant gangsterism and crime, which sees too many innocent residents caught in the crossfire.
The valiant efforts by some dedicated and hard-working officers are simply overshadowed by surging levels of violent gang wars and crime. The SAPS here are disastrously under-resourced, as we discovered today. They are not being provided the tools necessary to fight increasing crime.
However, just over 6 months ago, in an act of negligent spending, SAPS is alleged to have blown R40 million on a music festival in the Nelson Mandela Bay.
First, we need well-resourced stations, functional vehicle fleets and more officers on the beat. We saw stations today without enough vehicles, or officers.
With only two police stations, and often less than 50% of police vehicles operational, for the entire Northern Areas community of almost 200 000 people, the SAPS is hamstrung in the face of increasing crime here.
The national ANC government is not doing nearly enough to equip the Northern Areas police, yet feels it appropriate to spend R40 million on a music festival.
At the local government level, instead of working to assist SAPS in dealing with this growing crisis, the ANC government in NMB remains without a plan to secure our communities or launch a Metro Police Service.
Both Station Commanders from the Gelvandale and Bethelsdorp Police Stations agreed that a Metro Police Service would greatly assist with the enforcement of by-laws.
The ever increasing delay to launch and operate an NMB Metro Police service just shows the lack of regard for the safety of our people, by this NMB government. While people continue to die, nothing is done to launch a Metro Police Service here.
In government, the DA will immediately establish the Metro Police Service in NMB, on the model we have successfully used in other DA governments.
The Metro Police under the DA will have dedicated anti-gang and anti-drug units, to assist the SAPS in fighting gangsterism and crime.
In the City of Cape Town, with the introduction of an effective metro police force, arrests have increased to a staggering 1000 known gangsters and criminals every month.
Incidences of violent crime and gangsterism are being driven downwards by the DA’s Cape Town efforts as slowly but surely these law enforcement agencies begin to win this war.
It is clear that the ANC has no plan to fight crime in NMB, and therefore the existing and already adopted plan from 2012, must surely be honestly and seriously considered.
The DA is committed to establishing a functional Metro Police service, and in government in NMB we would ensure that a Metro Police service clamps down on crime from the get go.
Change is coming in Election 2016; change that delivers true freedom, fairness and opportunity.
The DA can win Nelson Mandela Bay.
Alan Straton
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