Issued by: SA Communication Service
NEWS RELEASE BY MINISTER OF SAFETY AND SECURITY, MINISTER F S MUFAMADI, OCTOBER 16, 1995
I have noted recent media reports relating to an African National Congress (ANC) discussion document entitled "One year of Government of National Unity" (GNU), which suggests that the ANC doubts the loyalty of the South African Police Services )SAPS) to the GNU.
As a member of the ANC National Executive Committe (NEC), an ANC decision-making body and Minister of Safety and Security, I can state categorically that there is no truth in such suggestions and the police retain my confidence and that of President Nelson Mandela.
I wish to remind everyone that in his inauguration speech, President Mandela reserved special commendation for the SAPS and the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for the role they played in ensuring a peaceful election process.
To demonstrate that the GNU attaches extreme importance to the role of police in ensuring a stable safe and secure society, the GNU dedicated October 15, 1994, (National Day of Safety and Security) as a day for creating conditions conducive for co-operation between communities and the police in the fight against crime.
Several ANC leaders including President Mandela have utilised every opportunity they could find to continuously call for co-operation between the police and the communities.
Those who saw or read the document should have had the decency to peruse the document against the ANC's well-known policy positions, which the ANC has enunciated from time-to-time.
We reiterate our call to all communities to rally to the support of the policemen and women in the fight against the scourge of crime.
The SAPS is there to ensure all citizens' safety and security and to render an impartial service. A clean break with the past must inter alia mean that no political party should use the police as a political pawn.
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