The DA will not support the Budget Vote for Safety and Security. Although there are many, I will give you five reasons for this. Firstly, government has failed every year to meet its own target of bringing down contact crimes by between 7% and 10% annually.
Secondly, although up to 50% of crimes are not even reported, government refuses to release statistics on reported crimes regularly and current statistics are 15 months old. The DA believes that South Africans have the right to know the types and frequency of crimes committed in their neighbourhoods.
Thirdly, government has failed to make a meaningful improvement on the general conditions of employment or working conditions of police officials.
Fourthly, the lack of personnel and resources, especially in our detective services, implies that many criminals are not detected or punished for their crimes. Fifthly, the Minister's attitude to victims of crime is that, and I quote:
They can continue to whinge until they are blue in the face or they can simply leave this country.
This is because the Minister is deployed to make peace in Burundi and has lost touch with the reality of living in South Africa.
He has seemingly forgotten that on his watch, 51 normal people without bodyguards are murdered every day in this country. These five reasons why government is failing to ensure the safety and security of all South Africans may be summed up with three words: no political will. Can I repeat that? No political will. Thank you. [Applause.]