It's common knowledge that two of the biggest problems facing South Africa right now is unemployment and crime.
So it really makes no sense at all that the police ministry has announced that it is planning to cut the number of police in the country by 3 000.
In the police’s 2017/18 annual report tabled in Parliament this week, it was revealed that SAPS personnel will be decreased from 194 431 to 191 431 by 2019/20.
If they are not redeployed, it could mean 3 000 more people out of work, and less policing in our already crime-ridden communities.
It’s probably good news to the criminals, but for terrorised law-abiding citizens, it’s the worst possible news.
As it is, cops are losing the war on crime. The annual crime stats show that violent crime has been on the rise in the past four years.
DA Western Cape spokesperson for community safety Mireille Wenger points out that “21 police stations in Cape Town have less than one officer for every 500 residents of that precinct, and these are almost exclusively crime-affected communities”.
Nyanga, the nation’s murder capital, has one officer for every 753 residents.
So how is this plan by Fikile Mbalula’s ministry possibly going to make South Africans safer? Fewer officers means less police visibility in our communities and fewer patrols.
It means our already overworked cops will have more to do. Case loads will be heavier, leading to more “sloppy” investigations and cases being thrown out of court. It’s a disastrous idea and it makes Munier’s blood boil.
As if it couldn’t get any worse, Munier then read the latest statistics (StatsSA) release, which said poverty has been on the rise in the country since 2015.
PROPOSAL: Fikile Mbalula's police ministry tabled the plan
The latest “Poverty Trends in South Africa” report shows that more than half of South Africans were poor in 2015, with the poverty headcount increasing to 55.5% from 53.2% in 2011.
Again, if the plan is to lay off 3 000 cops, how is this helping to alleviate poverty? The Ministry is yet to clarify their plan, and Munier sincerely hopes and prays the proposal will be chucked out by Parliament.
Honestly, can’t government find the budget to keep our men and women in blue in their jobs?
The average officer, constable and sergeant earns R13 000 to R16 000 a month. That works out to R192 000 a year per officer at most. Times that by 3 000 heads and the Ministry needs R576 million a year.
Surely government can set aside this money? Munier is certain that by cutting out all the corruption and wastage of taxpayers’ money, the state would be able to retain these jobs.
Heck, they could even employ 3000 more cops.
If government is prepared to throw us to the wolves, then we should return the favour and leave them out to dry come election time.