Madam Deputy Speaker, while the specific focus on job- creating economic growth is welcomed, it is unfortunate that another priority issue for South Africans received scant recognition in the state of the nation address.
The World Bank's Second Investment Climate Assessment found that South Africa has attracted considerably less foreign direct investment than comparable economies in East Asia because the country is seen as a riskier location for investment. Among the factors feeding this view is the perception that crime is more prevalent in South Africa than elsewhere.
Yet in a 5 000-word address, the safety and security of South Africans and their communities received a mere 65 words. Yes, the slow decrease in incidents of serious crimes is commendable and the efforts in this regard must be applauded. However, the number of serious crimes committed annually remains above the two million mark, where it has been for 17 years. This is unacceptable, more particularly as it is the poorest of the poor that feel the impact of crime the most.
The wellbeing of our citizens and communities is not a matter of statistics, but speaks to the very fabric of our society and the efforts to accelerate economic development to address unemployment, poverty and inequality. We require a bold new vision to ensure the safety, security and stability of our society, as well as the creation of an environment in which economic growth and development can continue unhindered. This is our common struggle.
Instead, we are veering towards a security state marked by this government's increasing obsession with a traditionally defined concept of national security. The vehement defence of the Secrecy Bill, controlling the courts and legislative attempts at granting the intelligence services even greater powers are symptomatic of this obsession.
A radical and conceptual policy shift is required to focus our collective efforts on the human security of South Africans, where the proper emphasis for safety, security and stability is on the individual and communities rather than the state.
We need to empower citizens and the citizenry to take back their communities and their societies. We need a caring and responsive government that will adopt and implement programmes rooted in this people-centred view of making South Africans safe.
It requires government to create a climate that empowers local people and communities to take charge of a collective civil responsibility to protect themselves and one another. It speaks of shared efforts of all South Africans to bring about a unified and safe society, where personal safety and the absence of fear from violence allow for our citizens to flourish.
The sustainable safety and security of our society and the prevention of crime require close co-operation between government, the police and communities to share resources and information and develop specific initiatives for local circumstances.
South Africa boasts a strong civil society and active communities, yet their involvement in taking ownership of their own safety and security receives little official encouragement. Citizens, businesses and institutions in the private sector should be encouraged to involve themselves in the war on crime and their contributions should be acknowledged and harnessed. The DA believes that this can be done in a concrete and sustainable manner.
Government should actively encourage community involvement by empowering communities to set up and manage their own community safety initiatives, such as neighbourhood watches and patrols. Many farming communities have risen to the challenge in this regard, but they do not receive adequate state support through funding, training and equipment. Local police services should be provided for where local councils have the means and desire to establish these, in co-operation, obviously, with the SA Police Service. We need less centralisation and a more diffused, distributed, personalised set of interactions and engagements that allow local services to give dedicated attention to particular problems in specified areas.
We need to empower community policing forums with more oversight over their local police stations and give them greater independence by enabling them to access funds to set aside for safety and security initiatives at the local level.
Creating meaningful and effective partnerships is pivotal in ensuring collaborative initiatives and actively facilitating private sponsorships. Regulatory frameworks, such as the SAPS Act, should enable public-private partnerships, and local governments and communities should be permitted and encouraged to collaborate with the police to solve problems at the local level. A prime example of how effective this can be is Crime Line, a Primedia Group initiative that empowers individuals and communities to advance their safety and security through anonymously reporting crime and suspicious activities.
Our society and interpersonal relationships are being eroded by drug abuse and threats to personal bodily integrity and dignity. We need to see a commitment from this government to re-establish the highly effective disbanded specialised units to fight drug abuse and related crimes, as well as family violence, child abuse and sexual offences.
Government must also bring citizens in rural South Africa on board in the fight against crime and the threats to the security of their communities by creating a new specialised rural safety unit. Every farmer or farm worker that is murdered impacts directly on the rural economy, compounding the decay of rural communities.
Finally, the regular sharing of official information on crime and community safety is necessary to adequately empower communities to locally address crime and challenges to safety in their communities. This can and must be facilitated by implementing communication sharing systems, including SMS and other electronic communication devices.
South Africa, Mr President, stands firm and ready to heed the call made in the state of the nation address to join hands and deal decisively with the challenges our society faces. Government must, similarly, extend its hand and provide meaningful opportunities for South Africans and communities to proactively take charge of their own destiny, safety, security and wellbeing.
The President set out in his speech steps to enhance growth through an infrastructural investment programme. It is time for him now to set out a similar strategy to ensure the safety and security of our citizens. If he fails in this regard, the desired economic growth will not occur. I thank you. [Applause.]