Zuma – Age of Desolation

ANC Election Manifesto

March 21, 2009 at 4:20 pm | Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment
Tags: Africa Politics, ANC, Corruption, Humour, Politics and Government, South Africa

Safety and Security

In every election since 1999 the ANC have promised to reduce crime and violence. Before every election the rolled out the big guns, all of them big on populist rhetoric but short on real plans and actual delivery.

Examining the facts, we find that despite all the talk by ANC leaders, the facts point to a dismal situation and a prime example of ANC non-delivery. It points to gross mismanagement of funds, funds disappearing into pockets of leaders and officials nepotism and cronyism

The ANC will tell you that on their guard they have done the following:

Increased spending on safety and security from R 17 Billion Rand in 2000 to R 43.3 Billion Rand in 2008.

Manpower have increased from 100 000 to 140 000 in the period 2000 to 2008. Because of the increase in manpower South Africa now have a police to citizen ratio of 1:370. This is better than the pre-1994 and better than the international benchmark of 1:400. The racial mix in the police force is now 83%.

Murders have decreased.

We will do more and spend more to improve training and upgrade facilities, establish street committees, improve justice system, fight organized crime, reduce violent crime. (Same as in previous elections)

All South Africans are equally exposed to violent crime.

What the ANC does not say is:

In the same period (2000-2008), there has been a huge increase in private security spending. It is estimated that 300 000 private security guards were employed by private citizens and companies. The job of the government are now subsidised to an amount equal to the police budget.

Despite the increase in spending, we still hear daily about shortages of cars, fuel and equipment.

Although the manpower has increased, the ratio between uniformed policeman and detectives has increased and there is now a huge shortage of detectives to investigate crimes. The skill level of the policemen in service has dropped and so has the standard of policing. The quality and skills in the Forensics Department has dropped to an all time low. Administrative foul ups makes it impossible to secure drink and drive convictions. The lack of skills in forensics and the detective division is a direct result of AA which caused large numbers of highly skilled white staff to leave.

Loss of fire arms, dockets have reached crisis proportions and can only be attributed to corruption, incompetence and only

In a study by the Institute for Security Studies, it was shown that 1-in-ten coloured and black citizens were victims of crime whilst 2-in-10 white and Indian citizens were victims of crime.

Statistics and studies

Despite the ANC’s efforts in the past 14 years, statistics and studies show that they have been ineffective in their efforts. Some critical areas highlight the dismal failure of the governing party. In the period 2006 – 2007:

• People murdered, 19200
• People escaping murder attempt, 20300
• Robbery with aggravating circumstances, 126000
• Raped, 52600
• Murder rate SA 40.5/100 000 (UK 1.4, USA 5.6)
• In this period only Sudan and Burundi were more dangerous than South Africa
• Reported crime in 1994/1995 was 20 222 899. In 2006/2007 this number has increased to 21125 227. It has to be said that in 1994/5 there were some residual political violence. By 2006/7, people have largely stopped reporting petty crime.

Due to corruption and incompetence, less than 10 % of violent crimes end with a conviction. Of all crimes, committed 75% will never get to court.

Recently, this week in fact, it was discovered that the number of lost dockets have increased by 56% in three years. The backlog at the Forensic Department increased by 93% in the same period and 3700 firearms were lost in 2008. These are simple things to manage yet they cannot get it right.

Cause of the Crisis

Incompetence, due to lack of skills, resulting from AA and lack of training has been mentioned already. Add to that:
• Lack of leadership (Commissioner of Police suspended, Johannesburg Metro Police chief suspended, Ekhuruleni Police chief suspended, various other SAPS leaders suspended)
• Examples set by leadership (Aforementioned suspended police leaders as well as station commanders recently suspended for corruption, one for changing statements the other for selling dockets, a future president charged with corruption, a deputy president who bought a licence illegally, a cief whip defrauding the taxpayer, a convicted fraudster nominated for parliament, etc)
• Moral of the police at a low as highlighted by violent metro police strikes and gun wars between SAPS and JMPD.

The most serious problem however, are political leaders not giving the correct message and not acknowledging the extent of the crisis. Examples of this are the statement by Charles Ngakula that people who do not like crime must leave the country. Thabo Mbeki referring to a “perception of violence” and the latest gem by Jacob Zuma, who recently told Al Jazeera that, crime in South Africa is no worse than in other countries, our media just give it higher visibility.

The fact that the deeds of violent criminals are generally attributed to poverty does not help. Many poor countries, India, Ghana and many others, where poverty is as bad or worse than South Africa they do not have the same problem.

The ANC still does not address crime to the extent they should. They do not realise the extent of the crisis, they have not been able to manage all the contributory factors. All causes of crime should have been addressed, instead the ANC preferred to protect their cronies, indulged in populist rhetoric and denied the crisis.

The Way Forward

Get rid of the ANC. They have not made an impact in fourteen years why would they in the next five years.

Vote for a party that is committed to fighting crime.

Recognise and address all causes of violence and know that the cost of crime will cripple the country. The money the ANC waste on crime prevents delivery in other areas.

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