OPINION: The implementation of the National Development Plan policing policies is overdue, including de-militarisation, improved training and, of crucial importance, an independent oversight board — but the political appetite appears lacking, writes Mary De Haas.
Most South Africans live in fear of rampant violent crime, with confidence in policing plunging to an all-time low of 21 percent in 2021/22. Under successive ministers, and the absence of proper oversight, corruption and nepotism escalated along with continuing political interference. All parties in our new unity government must stand firm in ensuring that the best possible candidate is appointed to this crucial safety portfolio.
OPINION: Were South Africa to reintroduce the death penalty, there is little doubt that it would be poor people-not criminal politicians-who would face the gallows as they are the visible face of crime, deployed by the invisible multiracial syndicates using them as hitmen and hijackers; they are seldom charged and, if they are, can afford the best lawyers, writes Mary de Haas.
Serious problems in crime intelligence stem from politicised management, where orders are given by the minister of police, who is in gross breach of the Constitution by engaging in operational activities.
However, far more telling evidence against you is your appointment (and, extraordinarily, in July 2021, retention of) Minister of Police Cele, for it is patently obvious that he has absolutely no understanding of his oath of office to the Constitution (which was already abundantly clear when he was SAPS national commissioner).
OPINION: Hardened criminals can act with impunity because South Africa has become a criminalised state, in which officials use political office for personal enrichment at the expense of good governance.
OPINION: The DA could do South Africa a favour by using constructive mechanisms such as courts to force Ipid independence, rather than pursuing an agenda for more – and dangerous – provincial policing powers, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: Our political leaders show no indication of taking their oath of office to uphold the Constitution seriously, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: If the SAPS, under Police Minister Bheki Cele’s direction, continue to act above the law, South Africa is heading down the police state road, writes Mary de Haas.
Is it not obvious from what happened last July that retaining Cele in his present position is a threat to national security? asks Mary de Haas.
OPINION: Pressure must be exerted on all elected officials to act urgently against the lack of proper parliamentary oversight, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: Those not living in fear of politicians and police, as so many vulnerable community members do, have a duty to hold public representatives, and parliament and its committees, to account, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: A broader based network could assist local groups when there are overwhelming problems as, for example, following up serious cases such as murder. Security through policing is far too important to be left to politicians, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: While ANC provincial leadership condemns the violence, it needs to deploy its senior members to monitor meetings, and ensure that all those engaging in violence, including assault and pointing of guns, are immediately criminally charged, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: The roots of the devastation in KZN and Gauteng lie in the criminalisation of the state and the weakening of the criminal justice system combined with grinding poverty and the continuing disempowerment of a large sector of society, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: There have been extremely high levels of abuse by the police for many years, so it was a foregone conclusion that those inclined to this type of conduct (many are not) would relish their increased powers during lockdown, writes Mary de Haas.
OPINION: The policing crisis is but one manifestation of a criminal justice system which is near to broken. If priority is not given to fixing it, the consequences for democracy will be dire, writes Mary de Haas.
Education of this nature should not be imposed on teachers, and anyone implementing it should be well trained and, if not experienced in the field, receive supervision, writes Mary de Haas.
Corruption is bad enough, but when it kills, and the law is broken with impunity, all complicit political heads should roll writes Mary de Haas
Like the placing of rocks on roads, this is not a new phenomenon and it is disgraceful that despite deaths, no preventive steps have been taken.
In South Africa a Casspir is, above all, a symbol of the brutal repression by the apartheid state of pro-liberation resistance in the townships in the 1980s, says the writer
Mary de Haas makes a call to abandon violence in #FeesMustFall student protests
