Remarks by KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Sibusiso Ndebele, during the opening of the Magistrate Court in Madadeni Township, Newcastle

Introduction

As we gather here in Newcastle today, the home of reggae legend the late Lucky Dube, we wish to, again, convey our condolences to the family of Luck Dube who was killed last week. Lucky Dube will be laid to rest here in Newcastle on Sunday. May his soul rest in peace!

It is a pleasure to be part of this very important occasion in the execution of our justice system. Only an effective, well-organised and well-managed justice system can ensure that our hard-won democracy is not only entrenched, but also sustained.

During the State of the Province Address on 14 February this year, we said we had established political peace in KwaZulu-Natal. We, however, pointed out that our path to permanent peace was being threatened by crime of all kinds against the person and their property. We also said that, in particular, our people were being killed for a particular form of card, the credit card, the bank card and cell phone SIM card.

Crime

Although our police service has and continues to do its best, the level of crime in our province is unacceptable. That we acknowledge. People who defeated apartheid, a system declared a crime against humanity, cannot be defeated by crime. The war against crime will only be won through a solid partnership, a broad Popular Front Against Crime.

Through the Popular Front Against Crime, we seek to inculcate in our people a new view of crime: that it is dastardly, shameful and against the values of democracy. We must create a new cadre of activists in the war against crime and criminality in order to move towards the development of a secure future for all our people.

The Stolen Goods Market, in particular, remains a challenge. We are already doing the following to address this phenomenon:

* discouraging support of the stolen goods market
* canvassing the causes and impact of this type of crime on the economy, primary and secondary victims as well as market participants
* emphasising the family as a unit to fight this type of crime
* reducing the strength and prevalence of the stolen goods market leading up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup and beyond.

The message we want to send out to our people is that crime does not pay.

Justice and Crime Prevention Cluster

Earlier this year, we launched the KwaZulu-Natal Justice and Crime Prevention Cluster which seeks to improve the operation of our anti-crime drive in the province. We have established the Criminal Justice System, and the Provincial Integrated Justice (PIJ) Forum.

The PIJ Forum, which is chaired by a judge, includes the South African Police Service (SAPS), the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, the Department of Correctional Services, the Department of Community Safety and Liaison and the Department of Welfare. Through this Forum, a mechanism exists for a comprehensive response to the strengthening of the Criminal Justice System. We are closing all the loopholes which criminals are using to escape arrest, prosecution and sentencing.

Legislative environment

The Constitution entitles the province through its Department of Community Safety and Liaison to monitor and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of policing. We are also charged with the promotion of good relations between the police and communities. The White Paper on Safety and Security indicates that the provincial responsibilities are:

* initiating and co-ordinating social crime prevention programmes
* mobilising resources for social crime in order to achieve more effective crime prevention
* evaluating and supporting the social crime prevention programmes at local government level
* implementing and taking joint responsibilities for social crime prevention
* establishing crime prevention programmes in areas where local government is poorly resourced or lacks capacity and the establishing of public and private partnerships to support crime prevention.

One of the challenges we face in dealing with crime is fractured inter-governmental co-operation, collaboration and responses between and within all spheres of government. In response to this, as government, we have taken the decision to take urgent steps:

* to co-ordinate provincial and local implementation of the JCPS cluster priorities
* to ensure alignment of activities between national and provincial and local government
* to monitor and report on implementation progress and challenges at provincial and local level.

Crime summit

On 21 and 22 May 2007, we hosted a Provincial Crime Summit in Durban. The summit was aimed at promoting integration and an Interim Committee comprising representatives from the SAPS, Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Justice and Community Safety and Liaison was established. This was in order to co-ordinate the formation of the KwaZulu-Natal Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cabinet Cluster.

This programme will address priority crimes while strengthening relations with business and the community. We need to be upfront with the role communities must play in the fight against crime. While it is understandable to fear crime, we cannot be paralysed by it.

Crime prevention

We have already started the Volunteer Social Crime Prevention Programme (VSCPP). It is envisaged that this programme will lead to a reduction in social crime, a corresponding reduction in the fear of crime and the promotion of KwaZulu-Natal as a safe place for communities, tourists and businesses. We started with 1 000 volunteers. This will rise to 2 100 over the build up to 2010.

Role of traditional leaders

As government we have trained 215 Amakhosi on a crime prevention module developed in partnership with the University of Zululand. This year we intend to continue cascading the same training to other levels of traditional leadership and also extend it to various religious groupings.

Communities in dialogue

In 2006 we announced the Communities in Dialogue Programme. We have ongoing programmes in Ezakheni and Charlestown, not far from here, over land issues. It is our intention, as the government of KwaZulu-Natal, to mobilise communities to assume responsibility for peace, stability and safer places to live, through Proactive Community Dialogue Sessions. We believe that the success of these dialogues would ensure that peace is sustained and crime drastically reduced.

This programme has become an important resource for our local leadership to promote peace and security and improve the "State of the Village".

Conclusion

In conclusion, we would like to commend the police and justice officials for their swift arrest and charging of the suspects in the Lucky Dube murder case. The Lucky Dube case shows us that the collaboration of communities is critical to end crime. We understand it is the community which identified the get-away car; it was the community which helped identify the direction in which the killers fled. The police and prosecution authorities then kicked in, working 24 hours like a well-oiled machine, to ensure the suspects are apprehended.

It is against this background, therefore, that we open this Magistrates' Court here in Madadeni today. It is an affirmation of the supremacy of the importance of the enforcement of our criminal justice system. It is this kind of co-operation that we will continue to look forward to ensure that social justice and prosperity prevails in our province.

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
26 October 2007