Police Minister Bheki Cele continues to give opposition parties enough ammunition to dispel the ANC’s claim of being a caring government with his lavish lifestyle at the cost of the public purse.
Not that he is alone on the gravy train. However, as a minister responsible for fighting the alarming high levels of crime, Cele should be grounded in communities living in fear of criminals instead of being a high-flyer only showing up after the fact for interviews.
This does not mean we expect him to be everywhere fighting crime, but the result should align with this considering the taxpayer coughed up about R24 million to fly him, his deputy and police top brass in SAPS aircraft over the past three years.
The opposite is true. Take, for example, the 89 gender-based violent (GBV) cases that were struck off the court roll within six months in the Western Cape, reportedly due to police inefficiency.
These include 34 cases that were withdrawn because the dockets were not at court, 53 were withdrawn because of an incomplete investigation, one because a witness was not subpoenaed while another was withdrawn because the accused was not brought to court.
If these are the trends emerging only in one province, we shudder to think what the national picture looks like. However, behind these numbers are people who long to see justice for the gruesome crimes they’ve experienced.
Those arguing Cele cannot be expected to be everywhere, especially in the private spaces where most GBV cases take place, are correct. However, he does have the power to ensure police are properly capacitated with resources to avoid these shameful figures.
Costing the taxpayer R24m only on aircrafts owned by SAPS including the R176 945.63 flying to a media briefing after the arrest of six suspects over the murder of musician Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (AKA), shows South Africa has “leaders” far removed from the realities of the people who entrusted them with their votes.
In a country where millions survive on social grants, Cele and the ANC are proving Struggle icon Chris Hani right when he asserted: “What I fear is that the liberators emerge as elitists who drive around in Mercedes-Benzs and use the resources of this country to live in palaces and to gather riches.”
Remember this on May 29!
Cape Times