Makhura’s robust talks about crime 

Nie Cele

Alina Tau

Crime is one of the perilous problems of our time. I am saddened that we are not yet winning the war against crime because the high rate of crime destroys the dreams of our people who yearn to live in safe and secure communities.

These were some of the stern warnings issued by Gauteng Premier, David Makhuraduring his state of the province address.

“Over the past year, we have worked much better with the leadership of the South African Police Service, community policing forums and other law enforcement agencies in directing resources and the collective energy of communities towards areas which contribute to high crime rate,” he argued.

He also revealed that together they have set targets for station, cluster and provincial commanders to reduce crime by 50% in the 40 high priority police stations and 12 clusters.

“Working with national government and municipalities, we have added an additional 1 266 police personnel and 859 high performance vehicles to improve police response and visibility. We have also re-introduced the specialized police units to focus on priority crimes such as gender-based violence, trio crimes (which includes car-jackings, house and business robberies), drugs and farm murders. Our police officers are highly motivated by this intervention. They are well equipped to reach any place fast.”

He also thanked twoFreedom Front Plus MPL’s PhillippusVan Staden and Dr Pieter Groenewald for meeting with him and Community Safety MEC, SizakeleMalobanelast year to discuss how they can contribute to crime fighting in the beautiful province.

“Van Staden has come to the fore to say to the people of Gauteng and their governmentstuur my asseblief!

I challenge all other parties to join us,” Makhura proclaimed.