OPINION - LAST Thursday, the Minister of Police released the crime statistics of the country and it was not shocking at all. It was not shocking because since last year we have been hearing of femicide, rape, murder and the Cape Flats stories.
However, one would have hoped that, with the intervention of the army, things will get better on the Cape Flats.
It is shocking that sexual assault cases have increased by 4.5%, between April last year and May this year.
The murder rate has increased by 3.9% during the same time and, in the process, 21022 people were murdered in this country.
We must also bear in mind that these are the numbers that are recorded. Remember many sexual offence cases were not reported because of some reasons.
In fact, all kinds of crime have increased in this country since last year.
We are living in a war zone, we are living in hell. This demon needs our collective efforts to fight against.
But most importantly, we need police that are not corrupt, police who go to work because they love their jobs, not because they want a salary. Police have been our number one enemy in the fight against crime because of officers who are in the pockets of criminals.
We need the visibility of police in our townships. We need our policemen and women to be capacitated to do their jobs. We need police stations that are well equipped to deal with criminal elements.
We need members of the community to understand that police won’t do it alone without us. We are part of the solution as the citizens of this country.
Tom Mhlanga Braamfontein