Address by Honourable Thobile Mhlahlo, MEC for Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport at the Mhlontlo Anti-Stock Theft Imbizo, Mdibanisweni Community Hall, Tsolo

It is indeed a great privilege for me to get an opportunity to engage the community of Mhlontlo, especially the traditional leaders, about our collective role in combating crime in this area. The Tsolo and Qumbu areas have a painful history characterised by strife conflict emanating from stock theft incidents, which occurred in the early 1990s and resulted in almost 400 people losing their lives and the displacement of families.

That crisis prompted the Presidential intervention, which resulted in the restoration of peace and comfort through various government service delivery programmes, including the building of a Community Court and a police station.

Since then, we have observed peace paving way for a positive future for the communities of these two towns. The Department of Safety and Liaison further assisted the Mhlontlo Municipality in the development of the Local Community Safety Plan. This plan seeks to, amongst other things:
* address poverty caused by crime and unemployment
* advance proactive approach in crime prevention
* promote active involvement of all government departments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), community-based organisations (CBOs) and the community at large in the fight against crime.

Recently, the Department of Safety and Liaison led a process of reconciliation between the people of Mhlontlo, who were divided due to previous experiences, which resulted in unimaginable loss of lives.

Despite these positive developments, the last three months have been characterised by crime trends, which indicate the unprecedented rise in the cases of stock theft. Crime statistics show that Tsolo is rated number one and Qumbu number two nationally in stock theft cases. Since February 2007, there have been 130 reported cases of stock theft, which included 368 livestock (49 cattle, 205 sheep, 110 goats, four horses).

The identified contributing factors, include the non-visibility of police in areas of concern, non-branding of livestock, revenge based on past experiences, buying of stolen livestock by community to do ceremonials, poor detection or prosecution or conviction and lack of information network. Despite these challenges, the police have managed to arrest 14 people.

I would like to commend those who came forward with information that assisted the police to arrest the suspects. The past 13 years of our freedom have taught us that crime prevention is not only the responsibility of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Community members must play a role.

We cannot afford to have a situation where the community of Mhlontlo lives in the state of fear of violence, which might resurface because of the stock theft incidents. We need to unite against these tendencies that undermine the dignity of our people and our efforts of preserving peace, security and comfort in this area.

Guided by our Provincial Crime Prevention Strategy (PCPS), government departments should work together with the SAPS to ensure that we provide the necessary solutions to the problems that continue to confront this community. In March 2007, we completed the process of dissolving SAPS Area Offices and the manpower at local police stations has been increased, which means that the police visibility will improve. However, police operations can only succeed if they get reliable information from the community.

Our main intention is to develop a collaborative security community, whose interest is to inculcate a culture of ubuntu and social cohesion. This means that we need to support our Community Policing Forums (CPFs), Sector Policing Forums and work closely with our traditional leaders. The Department of Agriculture must assist the community with methods of protecting their livestock through branding and other means.

The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development must be sensitive towards the interests of the community, when dealing with stock theft cases to avoid further conflicts that derive from the perception that courts are not doing enough to end this problem.

Local government sphere is the most critical component of our plans, which should always be at the forefront of crime prevention exercises and ensure that it fulfils its Safety and Security role. Mhlontlo is one of the 17 municipalities in the province that have been identified by the Department of Safety and Liaison for the rollout of Community Safety Forum (CSF) concept. CSFs are vehicles to implement the PCPS at local government level and ensure that crime prevention is perceived as a service.

We need a multi-agency collaboration in order to make a meaningful contribution to strengthening social cohesion and moral regeneration in this area. That necessitates commitment by municipality, government departments, traditional leaders and communities to ensure that CSFs form an integral part of their Integrated Development Plans (IDPs), which would further strengthen co-ordination between the spheres of government.

Our approach derives from the principles of co-operative government and intergovernmental relations as highlighted in the Constitution of South Africa, which clearly state that all spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere, must preserve the peace, national unity and indivisibility of the Republic.

Through joint initiatives, we can be able to build a society of present and future generations that remain committed to strong values, stoical discipline, high moral stamina, humanity and integrity. It is when we work together as various spheres of government and our social partners that we can be able to successfully combat crime in our society.

In an effort to deal with the challenge of cross-border crime between Eastern Cape and Lesotho, the Department of Safety and Liaison will convene a joint workshop with the Lesotho law enforcement authorities in February 2008, as a follow-up to resolutions of the Cross-Border Crime Summit that we held in Maluti in 2005.

In conclusion, I would like to appeal for calm amongst the community and give law enforcement agencies sufficient space to do their work in order to promote peace and friendship in this area.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety, Liaison, Roads and Transport, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
1 June 2007