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With a marked increase in police top structure visibility and daily media reports of police operations over the festive season the South African Police Service (SAPS) must be commended for their efforts. But the Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa must not stand in the way of the release of the crime statistics for this period. We believe crime statistics relating to the festive season must be released at the earliest possible opportunity, and I will write to the Minister today to request that this happens.

Both the Minister and the National Police Commissioner have been vocal in their reluctance to release crime statistics in the past. In fact the Minister has previously stated that crime statistics should only be released every two years and the commissioner made the quite ridiculous claim last year that releasing crime statistics could assist criminals, and thus that the practice should be curtailed.

It is the Democratic Alliance's view - supported strongly by safety international best-practice research - that regularly updated, reliable and publicly available data on crime is essential for crime fighting institutions and for all citizens to be armed with information. This means we need regular access to crime data, including that from the festive season to be made available, and we hope that the Minister will oblige and provide this data publicly in the coming weeks.