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We will remove crime “Accused Number 1” from government and halve violent crime

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This speech was delivered by DA EC Provincial Leader, Andrew Whitfield MP, today at a crime protest outside the New Brighton Police Station in Gqeberha. He was joined by DA EC Provincial Spokesperson, Cllr Georgina Faldtman, Ngqura Constituency Leader, Leander Kruger MPL, and DA Parliamentary Candidate, Ian Cameron:

Violent crime is spiralling out of control in Nelson Mandela Bay and the Eastern Cape and President Cyril Ramapahosa is “Accused Number 1” in drawing up the charge sheet for this bloodbath.

It is under Ramaphosa’s five-year watch that a global report recently found NMB to be the most dangerous city in the country and the ninth most dangerous in the world.

Statistics from 16 NMB police stations between 2018/19 and 2022/23 show that murder increased by 64,26%, kidnapping by 97,09%, carjacking by 75,78%, and truck high jacking by 69,57%.

In 2023 alone there were 78,33 murders per 100,000 people and the murder rate increased by 37%. Between 2021 and 2023, more than 88% of all gang violence occurred in the Northern Areas. Over this period, 361 gang-related shooting incidents were reported, 319 of which were reported in the Northern Areas. This resulted in 180 individuals being killed, of which 22 were children.

During the third quarter of last year three police stations in Nelson Mandela Bay (Motherwell, New Brighton and KwaZakhele) were in the top 30 stations for murder in the country. There is a pattern of crime and criminality across certain stations. The evidence is there. Why can Police Minister Bheki Cele and the National Police Commissioner not target these stations for urgent attention?

Pres. Ramaphosa visited Nelson Mandela Bay recently and proclaimed that he has a plan for crime and that residents will be safe. But just in the last four days, there have been five murders, 12 rapes, 31 cases of assault GBH, 16 carjackings and 10 house robberies in Nelson Mandela Bay.

Pres. Ramaphosa is lying to the people of Nelson Mandela Bay, he is lying about his plan to make South Africa safer. He has the worst charge sheet of any of our former presidents. More than 100,000 South Africans have been murdered and 100,000 raped in five years under President Ramaphosa.

The President is “Accused Number 1” for murder, assault, rape, and every other category of violent crime over which he has presided.

For years, the DA has been doing its best to fight crime in NMB.

In 2017, under a DA government, ShotSpotter technology was successfully implemented, and a new metro police service established.

In 2013 Bobby Stevenson MPL, Shadow MEC for Community Safety, proposed the establishment of an additional police station in the Northern Areas. After eight years of driving the issue in the EC Legislature, the Chatty Satellite Police Station was opened in 2021.

Last year I wrote to Minister Cele requesting his intervention after which he confirmed that he was considering deploying national specialised crime fighting units.

In 2023 DA EC Provincial Chairperson, Yusuf Cassim MPL, also successfully moved a motion in the EC Legislature for a crime and safety summit to be held in NMB.

Our election manifesto makes it clear that the DA will halve violent crime within its first five years in government.

We will put more boots on the ground, provide more fit for purpose vehicles, use technology, ensure that staff are highly trained, improve crime intelligence and bolster specialised units to fight rampant gang violence.

The DA will continue to support residents in any way possible, from providing neighbourhood watches with much needed equipment, to lobbying government to fulfil its constitutionally mandated obligations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of citizens.

The crime petition we launched last year now has 10 000 signatures and will be submitted to National Parliament to request the swift deployment of police resources to Nelson Mandela Bay.

After the 29 May General Election we are going to Rescue South Africa by bringing a new government that will put our country and communities on a pathway to safety. We need to go out there and make sure that the people of South Africa vote for a safer South Africa.

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