By Anele Valela
On Friday, 28 September 2018, the MEC for the Department of Safety and Liaison (DSL), Ms Weziwe Tikana convened a multi-sectorial Imbizo in Humansdorp to appeal to the consciences of the people in the area, regarding the senseless killing of police officers.
“You must remember that police officer are human beings before they are members of the South African Police Service (SAPS). When you decide to take the life of a police officer, there is a family, which, loses a father, a mother, a sister, a brother, a daughter or a son as the result of an act of cruelty” said the MEC.
She added that the vision of government was for all people to be safe and feel safe where ever they are.
“We want people to be free, particularly women and children. The people must “police” themselves, because we cannot put a police officer in the backyard of every household. The prevention of crime is the responsibility of everybody. We are proud of the legacy of our province. People from all parts of the world want to come to the birthplace of the likes of Nelson Mandela, Winnie Madikizela–Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo and Albertina Sisulu, but when the crime is high, tourists will not come to our shores. When the crime is high, investors will be reluctant to come and invest in our province, and that will hinder economic growth and job creation. I, therefore, call upon all the people of the Kouga Local Municipality to go back to basics. Discipline must be rekindled and restored in each and every family because when there is a strong moral fibre of the family, there will be peace and stability in the society at large,” appealed the MEC.
The Provincial Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Community Policing Forum (CPF), Mr Glen Gwetha said that the success of the work of the police was depended on the goodwill of the people to become integral cogs of government, in the fight against crime.
“We must all support programs such as this one. If we do not protect our police, our own security is under threat. The police and police stations belong to communities, just like schools, churches, libraries and community halls. It is the responsibility of the people to safeguard and preserve these centres. We must also support the police through reporting of all criminal activities well on time, and in so doing, we will be exposing the criminal elements to the wrath of the law, so that our communities could be safe havens,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Eastern Cape Police Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant–General Liziwe Ntshinga affirmed that the police were on the side of the people, at all times.
“When you kill a police officer, you make society to be less safe. It takes two years to train an ordinary civilian to become a fully-fledged police officer. The people must stand up and say “enough is enough”. You must take charge of your own environments and participate in CPFs and Community Safety Committees (CSCs) so that we could keep our communities safe,” said the Provincial Commissioner.
