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The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police Mr Francois Beukman has stated that the increase in the murder rate is totally unacceptable and society must find ways to deal with it head-on.

“The right to life as enshrined in Section 11 of our Bill of Rights must be protected at all times. Personal safety is a human right. When communities do not feel safe and live in fear, the country’s economic development and the people’s well-being are affected,” Mr Beukman said. 

A critical analysis of the crime statistics that was presented last week by the Minister of Police and the South African Police Service (SAPS) management the motives for murder arise in the first instance from social and secondly from criminal behaviour. It is upon the South African government, the community and individuals to foster a cooperative effort to defeat this scourge.

The solutions to the high murder rate will not be found in our rules of criminal procedure or laws regulating immigration. The recipe to addressing the problem lies in a partnership among all social structures to build a better life for ourselves and cooperation with our neighbours. To deal with crime and violence, a partnership between police and communities remains central.    

Alcohol and drug abuse has been highlighted to be an important generator of murder cases. In 34% of the cases, the offender used alcohol and 3.9% as users of drugs. The proliferation of dangerous weapons such as firearms, mostly illegal, as well as knives is a matter of concern that must be stymied.    

The fight against crime and the high murder rate require a re-focus by the SAPS on crime prevention, detection and crime intelligence that will contribute to the reduction of the murder rate.

The following nine-point action plan should be implemented to deal with the current situation:

1. Professionalise the police and strengthen the national leadership of the SAPS – appoint a new permanent National Commissioner as soon as possible;
2. Fill the positions of the Head of Crime Intelligence and Deputy National Commissioner: Detective services to give direction to the units responsible for detecting and investigating serious and violent crime, that is, murder;
3. The turnaround of the current performance of the detective services and crime intelligence will be key in bringing the policeable crimes down;  
4. The new specialising unit of the DPCI focusing on illegal firearms should make a major headway in dealing with the illegal pool of fire-arms that are instrumental in murders and other violent crime; 
5. Cluster and station commanders of the SAPS should from a tactical perspective deploy visible policing and crime intelligence assets in such a way that house robberies, car-jacking incidents and business robberies are dealt with in pro-active manner.
6. More projects and networks operations from Crime Intelligence should be launched in priority areas i.e. informal settlements, rural settings and highly dense population areas.
7. Technology is key to respond to emerging crime patterns and identify syndicates and gangs who are the main perpetrators of violent and gun crime in the society.
8. Deal with the corrupt SAPS members at all levels and introduce effective vetting procedures in all high-risk police stations and units as a matter of priority;
9. Table the Firearms Amendment Act as soon as possible and revamp the Firearms Registry Management System to ensure better administrative and management control over firearms.                
 

Issued by Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Francois Beukman