Statement by Geordin Hill-Lewis – Leader of the Democratic Alliance:
Following my visit to Mabopane and Winterveld in Pretoria today with DA Tshwane Mayoral Candidate Cilliers Brink, I have asked that DA MPs and public representatives across South Africa conduct oversight visits at SAPS facilities in their communities, to determine whether police stations and FCS units have the forensic kits, detectives and basic resources needed to help GBV survivors and victims of violent crime.
We will compile the results of this nationwide oversight audit and publish them once complete.
Today in Tshwane I met an elderly rape survivor who is still waiting for justice more than 3 years later, a mother whose son has been missing for years, and heard from residents and CPF members.
Their stories show the human cost of South Africa’s collapsing criminal justice system.
Over the past two weeks, DA MPs Ian Cameron, Nicholas Gotsell and Lisa Schickerling have conducted oversight visits at SAPS facilities across the country and made astounding findings.
In some facilities, officers have had to ration or borrow sexual-offence evidence collection kits, while SAPS could not clearly show whether the right kits were available at the right stations when victims needed them.
The shortages of these evidence kits compromise rape and sexual-offence investigations at the first evidentiary step.
This means perpetrators are unlikely to ever be convicted, perpetuating the endless revolving door of the same criminals getting released and reoffending.
If we are to win in the war against violent crime and sexual crimes, then we must catch perpetrators. And when we do, we must be able to convict them, which requires competent investigations and evidence collection. And then we must clean-up the SAPS, so that corruption and criminality in the SAPS does not cripple policing.
Catch. Convict. Clean up.
That is how the DA will turn around policing in South Africa!
A government that cannot ensure the right evidence kit is available at the right police station at the right time cannot claim to be serious about getting violent criminals off the streets and into prison.
In a country where a woman is raped every 12 minutes, no survivor should arrive at a police station only to find that the state is not ready to help her build a case. South Africans deserve a criminal justice system that stands with victims rather than abandoning them.
The DA has shown, where we govern, that competent government can restore order, deliver services and give people hope.
Now we must bring that same standard to national government, fix SAPS, and build a country where every South African can live without fear.
Mr. Alien
Fun South African Fact: Lions, elephants and giraffes may not roam the city streets, but nature and animals are never too far away in South Africa. From vervet monkeys swinging through tree-lined streets in the suburbs and baboons frolicking around Cape Point to seals visiting the Hout Bay harbour in search of a fishy snack and an array of bird species taking to the sky at any given moment. Wildlife is all around!
Hex Panther
Shebeen – an unlicensed bar [sha-been] These are unlicensed bars usually found in low-income suburbs located outside of the major towns and cities, more commonly known as ‘the townships’.