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I am personally appalled that the Premier of Gauteng, Panyaza Lesufi, can be so petty as to politic around Kempton Park policing failures being “old news.”

The people dying are not “old news” Premier, the women in desperate fear are not “old news” Premier. This is the worst of the most petty politics, at a time of crisis.

The DA rejects and condemns petty Panyaza Lesufi, for his statement yesterday that the DA should not care about the Kempton Park policing crisis, and should not do oversight at the Police Station. The Premier has no standing to prevent a member of Parliament doing oversight on behalf of the residents of Ekurhuleni.

Yesterday the DA went to Kempton Park Police Station, after at least 11 women have been murdered in the area, because we care, we seek action, and we demand changes.

We must call the Premier’s response to oversight visits by people like Ian Cameron and Khathu Rasilingwane what it is – petty and defensive.

The numbers being presented by the Gauteng Provincial Government as a success story must be measured against what is actually happening on the ground. Not against Premier Lesufi’s ego.

The so-called impressive statistics he is punting are fabricated, because they deny the truth.

From 17 to 29 September, 4,206 personnel from SAPS, TRT, K9, NIU, Drones, POPS, Flying Squad, EMPD, JMPD, Gauteng Traffic Wardens and private security were deployed.

They searched 21,325 people and 8,939 vehicles, patrolled 2,109 hotspots, conducted 850 stop-and-search operations and established 176 vehicle checkpoints.

But after 12 days of this massive operation, the results fall flat.

Drug crime:

The operation visited 248 alleged illicit drug premises, resulting in:

• ⁠6 arrests for dealing in drugs;
• ⁠34 arrests for possession;

Communities across Gauteng are being ravaged by drugs. Yet after visiting 248 premises and deploying thousands of personnel, just 6 drug dealers are arrested.

Where are the major dealers and organised drug syndicates being dismantled? Where are the arrests of gang bosses, smugglers and transport operators moving drugs and weapons? Arresting six street-level drug dealers is the same as fixing one pothole and saying Joburg’s road crisis is being addressed.

After more than 21,000 people were searched, the pettiness of Panyaza Lesufi is satisfied that just 6 theft cases, 1 kidnapping, 3 firearms and 2 hijackings were addressed. This is a failure, not a success.

More than 21,000 people were searched, yet only three firearms were recovered. A massive crime operation, in a place under attack by criminals, and just three firearms have been recovered.

Lesufi is proud of arrests for being drunk in public, public drinking and trespassing. These are not the real problem, they are fringe, at best. The operation visited 600 liquor outlets, seized 623 litres of alcohol, visited 18 second-hand dealers and issued four fines. Gauteng residents want serious and violent crime to be addressed, and especially the feral onslaught against our country’s women. That is not what this operation achieved by arresting public drunks and fining second hand merchants.

I challenge Premier Lesufi to come out and speak about serious and violent crime: Murder, rape, house robberies, armed robberies, drug smugglers, hijackings – where are your successes on these?

Gauteng does not need crime-fighting operations that find three guns and arrest people drinking some alcohol in public. Our beautiful province needs sustained, intelligence-led policing that targets serious criminals and organised crime.

Don’t be petty Panyaza Lesufi, catch, convict and clean up. Now!

Issued by DA Gauteng leader Solly Msimanga