Chairperson, we are gathered in this National Assembly, representing different political parties and constituencies which are made up of different races, classes, gender, backgrounds, religion, beliefs and ideologies. There are many things that attest to our diversity as a people and there are many things that tie us together. We are all affected by crime and we must all fight crime.
Crime is a subject that should never be politicised. Fighting crime must be a collective effort. We must all get involved as a society in the fight against crime. There should be no spectators, we are all affected. Therefore, we must work together in the fight against crime in our country.
Recently, we have witnessed the scourge of gender-based violence, sexual offence and femicide rising in our society and this is a matter of great concern. In our view, fighting against crime include addressing the
triple challenges of poverty, unemployment and inequality that faces our society today. The triple challenges remain a major inhibitor. Indeed, none of us can truly rest and be comfortable with the status quo. Twenty-five years into democracy, in many ways, the legacy of apartheid still endures.
It is common cause that some in our society will always be uncomfortable when we remind them of the impact of the legacy of apartheid on modern day South Africa. This view assumes that the future has no relation with the past. We are in full agreement with the argument that the state has the responsibility to protect the lives of our citizens and their assets. Equally, the society has the responsibility to work together with the government in the fight against crime. Political parties, including the DA, the FFPlus, government business, nongovernmental organisations, NGOs, faith- based organizations, traditional leaders, civil society and everyone, has a role to play in fighting the scourge of crime in our communities.
We need to applaud the initiative by traditional leaders in Mpumalanga who in the last weekend joined hands with their communities in developing strategy in the fight against crime.
Understanding that people are their own liberators, in the early 1980s, there had been a call from the then ANC President Oliver Tambo, that "we should establish organs of people's power."
The ANC called on all South Africans to play an active role in shaping the country's collective destiny. The ANC resolved that, through organs of people's power, such as ward committees, community policing forums, and school governing bodies, amongst others, the masses of our people are called upon to continue to be their own liberators. Again, we make this call for the strengthening of these organs of people's power.
Crime prevention requires a people orientated problem solving policing plan. An example of an initiative of such plan is the Bambanani community safety initiative, which operationalises the National Crime Prevention
Strategy, by integrating the police, intelligence, justice and the communities in combating crime as well as the O Kae Molao operation in Gauteng province. With these efforts, the reduction in crimes will be reduced in our communities.
Poverty has a strong spatial dimension in South Africa, a demonstration of the enduring legacy of apartheid. This persistent legacy of apartheid is confirmed by the latest Stats SA Report, which shows the rising levels of unemployment which is high amongst the historically disadvantaged groups.
The comprehensive approach to fight crime requires that we should all be concerned about idling young people in our society. Yes, there is no justification that poverty, unemployment and inequality should be blamed on higher levels of crime. The argument we are advancing is that we need to deeply analyse the root cause of crime and therefore, respond to it in a comprehensive manner.
We would have thought that the FFPlus in tabling this motion for debate ... [Interjections.]