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The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Northern Cape is reiterating our call on Provincial Police Commissioner, Rismati Shivuri, to ensure that more and better resources are allocated to police stations so that the people of this province can once again feel safe in their own homes.

Stats SA’s Victims of Crime Survey, which was released today, indicates that people in the Northern Cape are more likely to become victims of robberies and housebreaking than their fellow South Africans living in other provinces.

To make matters worse, it is the perception of more than 50% of the people living in the province that the police will either only respond to an emergency call after two hours, or never at all.

This is very unsettling. However, given increasing crime levels in the province, it is no wonder that people have, to a large extent, lost faith in the police.

The amount of money allocated towards keeping citizens safe, has drastically declined over the years, with security upgrades and services for high profile politicians at the cost of the taxpayer, taking preference. In effect, crime has spiraled out of control under the management of a police service that is characterized by chronic under-training, under-staffing, under-resourcing and under-equipping.

A well-coordinated and urgent effort by SAPS is urgently required if the police are ever to keep our communities safe and restore order. We need more police officers, better training and additional vehicles in the Northern Cape. Without these basic crime fighting tools, crime will continue to rob citizens of basic freedoms like visiting open spaces, allowing children to play, and even just walking to town.

All people deserve to live a life free of the constant fear for their safety.

Only change under a DA-led government will ensure an effective, well-resourced and adequately capacitated, honest and professional police service that can protect us and our children from the increasing horrors of crime.

Issued by DA