Keynote address by honourable Thobile Mhlahlo, MEC for Safety and Liaison at the Nightclub and Taverners conference

Let me first take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for your attendance in this important gathering, which seeks to find ways and means of dealing with lawlessness in our communities.

Crime remains a threat that we must collectively address as it frustrates our people and impact negatively on the quality of their lives, because it distorts the meaning of freedom when communities are subjected to live in constant fear.

As we prepare for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we have an obligation to initiate programmes and strategies that would create a safe passage for our people and visitors during and after the tournament.

Furthermore, possibilities of realisation of the Provincial Growth and Development Plan (PGDP) targets will be determined by promotion of peace and security and the involvement of all our people in the fight against crime. Therefore, it remains our collective responsibility to create an enabling environment and to encourage investment into our province.

Government's main intention is to develop a collaborative security community, which is founded on common democratic values and observance of human rights. We strongly believe that human security is a building block for the democratic state to ensure total emancipation of our people as it assists in preventing conflict, reducing poverty and creating freedom from fear.

Our strategic goal is to secure a condition, where human security is matched by issues of development, co-operation and peace in line with the vision of the PGDP of making the Eastern Cape a compelling place to live, work and invest in.

The Nelson Mandela Bay is one of the fastest growing areas in terms of population figures because it is an attractive centre for investment and tourism, which results into an exodus of people from the rural areas to the urban areas.

This is evident in areas such as Motherwell, where many unemployed people have surfaced and built shacks, which present another challenge for the municipality in terms provision of houses and other basic services.

This challenge further impacts negatively in the safety and security of the region as more criminals emerge and cause mayhem in our communities. In order to respond promptly to this challenge, we are compelled by the prevailing circumstances to have a multi-agency collaboration that would, amongst other things, promote peace and security and combat the endemic violence faced by communities with special attention to the various forms of violence to which women, children, the elderly and the physically challenged people are subjected.

Guided by our Provincial Crime Prevention Strategy (PCPS), we have a duty to collectively promote moral regeneration and ubuntu as a foundation for peace, security and comfort.

The latest South African Police Services (SAPS) annual report showed that the levels of crime in the Eastern Cape, particularly contact crimes depict a 6,3% decrease in comparison with the same period in the preceding year. Over the last three years there has been a steadily decreasing trend.

If the current trend persists up to 2010, one can probably foresee a decreasing trend of between 12% and 18% which will be conducive for stabilising high incidents of contact crimes. There has been decreases varying from 4%-16% in crimes such as murder, common robbery, rape and assault.

In an effort to ensure steady decline in crime in the Eastern Cape, the Department of Safety and Liaison has decided to engage various stakeholders within the entertainment industry, particularly tavern and nightclub owners, in an effort to restore the moral fibre of our society.

The main purpose of this session is to build a partnership with this industry against crime, which is a long overdue exercise.

Our crime pattern analysis depicts that alcohol plays a key role in criminal activities, particularly contact crimes, especially in townships over weekends and after hours.

Alcohol contributes in 20% of domestic violence incidents, 78% of offenders DID consume alcohol, while 40% of victims DID consume alcohol and 97% of crimes committed under the influence of alcohol were not pre-meditated but were driven by alcohol abuse.

It appears that 48% of victims are stabbed, 23% are shot at and 11% are bruised. Last year alone, we have seen 3 169 firearms confiscated by SAPS and 867 handed in voluntarily.

I still believe that a lot can be done by all of us to get all firearms that are being misused out there. More than 78% of offenders are males and 25% victims are females of which 44% live in informal settlements, 55% of them are single and 43% are widows.

Another disturbing trend is found in the rape statistics analysis, where 71% of victims are African, 26,7% coloured and 2,2% white. African victims are dominated by scholars with 37.5%, 36% of unemployed women and 26,1% scattered between domestic workers and pensioners.

More than 16% of the victims are under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, which is mostly between 17h00 and 03h00 the following day. Approximately 11% of these incidents start at pubs or taverns.

The biggest category of offenders is single men with 46,1% aged between 11 and 30 years old. The most prevalent reasons for the rapes were determined as sporadic, as the suspect wanted to have sexual intercourse for the sake of having sex and act as if he had the right to have sex with the woman. During that process, suspects use force and threats of violence to dominate and control their victims.

We are all aware of the fact that African communities do not have sufficient recreational facilities, which sometimes compels our people to drink alcohol excessively. This has a bearing on the moral fibre of society and the building of family and community values.

I strongly believe that the most critical area of intervention is through regulation and strong law enforcement of liquor outlets' operations.

The issue of time of operation for these outlets should be strictly monitored and the community must be given an opportunity to make inputs before the opening of such businesses.

We cannot afford to have more than one outlet in one street, because that would affect peace and comfort of the residents.

The issuing of licences should be informed by various factors to avoid destruction of our people. This includes avoiding any business near schools and churches.

Our approach should be based on the clear understanding of the best strategy of opening economic opportunities for the previously marginalised, while we simultaneously defend and build our communities and develop a society that works together in pursuit of happiness that comes with freedom.

This process should be well-considered, effectively co-ordinated and comprehensive. It also needs to be sustainable and its progress measurable.

Local Government should be at the forefront of this exercise and ensure that it fulfils its Safety and Security role. The municipality's by-laws must be well understood by all role players and be enforced by the relevant authorities with the assistance of councillors and ward committees.

The Department of Safety and Liaison will support and assist municipalities with the rollout of Community Safety Forums (CSFs), particularly the Nelson Mandela Bay, Buffalo City and King Sabata Dalindyebo, which have been earmarked for 2010 World Cup.

These CSFs are vehicles to implement the PCPS at local government level and ensure that crime prevention is perceived as a service.

This intervention will make a meaningful contribution to strengthening social cohesion and moral regeneration in the province.

We call upon the Nelson Mandel Bay Municipality and all other municipalities in the Eastern Cape to ensure that CSFs form an integral part of their Integrated Development Plans, 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.

As we prepare for the World Cup, we are simultaneously promoting township tourism and Safer Taverns, because we want to make sure that tourists taste the authentic African culture.

Such initiatives would not succeed if we do not stand together and speak in one voice against crime. Nightclub and tavern owners should come forward with information about people who sell stolen goods, drugs and weapons in their properties.

It is through joint initiatives that 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.

In conclusion, I would like to wish you a successful session, hoping that we will all gain something out of the deliberations of this meeting. It is when we work together as government and the business community that we can be able to combat crime in our society.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety and Liaison, Eastern Cape Provincial Government
11 May 2007