Ngiyabonga Sihlalo weNdlu yemikhandlu yeziFundazwe, ngibingelela amalungu ale Ndlu kanye naboNgqongqoshe abavela kuzo zonke izifundazwe. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[Ms N F MAZIBUKO (Gauteng): Thank you, Chairperson of the NCOP. I greet the members of this House and the MECs from all provinces.]
The MEC from the Western Cape, my colleague, I appreciate you acknowledging me. I am always a rose amongst the thorns.
Ngibingelela uNgqongqoshe weZamaphoyisa ubaba uNathi Mthethwa kanye noSekela wakhe umama uSotyu, ngibingelele nazo zonke iziphathimandla ezikhona ngokushiyana kwenu ngezikhundla zenu.
Ngqongqoshe kanye nawe Sekela Ngqongqoshe, baye bathi uma ngabe inqola imile izinja ziyayichamela, uma ngabe inqola ihamba izinja ziyayikhonkotha, yikho-ke lokhu okuqeda kwenzeka manje; mina ngithi yibambeni njalo nje ningapheli umoya, makuyiwe phambili.
Nathi siyisiFundazwe saseGauteng siyaleseka leli Voti leSabiwomali ngoba kungenxa yalo lapho sibona isifundazwe sethu sase-Gauteng siba nentuthuko, ikakhulukazi emaphoyiseni. Nanoma sicaphuna nje kancane, kepha eGauteng zikhona okungenani iziTeshi zamaPhoyisa ezizokwakhiwa, ikakhulu ezindaweni ezidingayo futhi nalezo ezigcwele ubugebengu, njengaseTembisa, e- Olivenhoutbosch, eCosmo City, njalo njalo.
Siyabonga ngoba nathi sesinaye uKhomishani wamaPhoyisa omusha osanda kuqala umsebenzi wakhe ngonyaka odlule. Kuze kube manje simbonile ukuthi uyashesha. Unele wangena nje ehhovisi, wathi uma ezwa uNdunankulu ebelesele ethi, bafowethu kuyasheshwa! Naye washesha.
Sekunezinguquko eziningi emaphoyiseni, ikakhulukazi eGauteng. Njengokuthi uma uhamba ebusuku, nawe uyazibonela ukuthi kunezinqola ezilokhu zihambahamba, zikhanyise izibani zazo eziwumbala oluhlaza okwesibhakabhaka, phecelezi ama-blue lights.
Useqinise nohlelo lwe-sector policing, lapho isekethe ngayinye isinezinqola ezimbili eziphithizelayo ngaso sonke isikhathi. Kangangoba lokhu sekwenze ngcono ngisho nesikhathi uma ngabe amaphoyisa ebizwa eza ngokushesha, phecelezi i-response time. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[I greet the Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthethwa and his deputy, Ms Sotyu. I also greet all officials present, and all protocol observed.
Minister and Deputy Minister, they say a stationary vehicle will have dogs urinating on it; if it is in motion they bark at it, and this is exactly what has just happened now. I for one say continue doing as you are doing; don't be discouraged, let's go forth.
We too, as Gauteng province, support the Budget Vote because it is through it that we see our province of Gauteng developing, especially with regard to the police. Although we take a limited amount, we have at least some police stations that will be built, mainly in places with a high crime rate, like Tembisa, Olivenhoutbosch, Cosmo City, etc.
We are grateful because we now have a new police commissioner who started working last year. We have so far noticed that he responds quickly. Soon after taking office, he heard the premier insisting that things should be done quickly. He made haste in this instance as well.
There are many changes now in the police, especially in Gauteng. For example, if you are out at night you can observe that there are police cars patrolling, with blue lights on.
He has reinforced the system of sector policing as well, where each circuit has two cars patrolling all the time. Now even the response time has improved.]
Gone are those days when people used to say that the police always came late, if they even came at all.
Usebophe izigilamkhuba eziningi ezibalelwa kuma-256 nokukhona phakathi kwa zo namaphoyisa kulesi sikhashana nje engenile ehhovisi lakhe. Sinethemba lokuthi namanye amaphoyisa acabanga ukwenza ubugebengu ayazibonela nawo ukuthi cha, la kubaba uMzwandile Petros, alufakwa lubuya nodaka. (Translation of isiZulu paragraph follows.)
[He has arrested many criminals, estimated at 256, in this short time in office, amongst them police officers. We hope that other police officers contemplating committing crime also realise that Mr Mzwandile Petros is not playing games.]
In Gauteng there are eight crime generators, namely liquor and drug outlets, firearms, bank followings, spaza shops, illegal mining, hijacked buildings and hostels, and lastly, the shopping malls.
There are also 10 identified crimes that are always bothering people. These are murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances, hijacking of motor vehicles, truck hijackings, residential robberies, business robberies, burglary of businesses, residential burglaries, thefts from motor vehicles and, lastly, sexual offences.
Working together with the Gauteng community and the police, we strive to have a safer Gauteng for all its citizens. Gone are the days when Gauteng was known as a gangster's paradise. We want to make it a smart province, and a home of champions - that is why you only find Orlando Pirates and all others. [Laughter.]
The core mandate of our department of community safety is to develop and implement strategies and plans that will make Gauteng a safe and secure province for all its citizens and visitors. This mandate is actually carried out in the context that policing is a national function. The province's responsibility is to set out policing needs and priorities, to monitor police conduct and to promote good relations between the police and the community.
In Gauteng we have strategic priorities and we are sure that they will help us to remove this scourge, and that our smart province will not be under siege from criminals. Amongst these priorities is to mobilise communities to participate in their community police forum. We do this together with various partners such as the police, business, youth, political parties, taxi associations, faith-based organisations, women's organisations, celebrities, sportsmen and-women and schools.
To date, we have 120 functional community police forums, CPFs, and 87 youth desks in our police stations. In this coming financial year, with your help, we will make sure that we launch the rest of the CPFs and the youth desks that are still remaining.
We believe that having partnerships is important because it makes everyone take responsibility and helps us to fight crime, which is very important. We recognise community involvement and ownership as key factors for the sustainability and effectiveness of change initiatives at the local level. It makes our people feel safe and secure.
We believe that we have a holistic approach that focuses on the risk factors which contribute to crime. They include poverty, unemployment, the school drop-out rate, substance abuse and alcohol abuse.
We believe that there should be a basket of services which will help to prevent families, children and young people from becoming criminals in their lifetime. The establishment of community police forums remains crucial in our endeavour to help the police to reduce crime.
To focus on vulnerable groups, especially crimes against women, children and people with disabilities, will always remain a very high priority. Through having various programmes and activities in Gauteng, we are also reclaiming our nights and streets. In Gauteng it will now be easy to walk at night without fear. You will also be able to wear your miniskirt and tights, knowing that you will not be harassed by those with roving eyes.
Victim empowerment centres, such as Amakhaya Ethemba, have received a number of domestic and sexual offence cases. Personalised services are actually being put together to make sure that we do service the rest of Gauteng, including the peri-urban areas such as Magaliesburg.
The strengthening of the criminal justice system is also crucial. It will win the confidence of our people in their fight for a safer Gauteng. The police are doing their utmost to catch the perpetrators of crime, but the courts are still failing us. To deal with a case is like a cycle where a case gets opened, a detective investigates and the case goes to court, with the expectation of prosecution.
We recognise that the outcomes are not always what communities expect. We are hoping that with your interaction, together with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, you will be able to assist us in winning back the confidence of our community.
In fighting social crimes we are encouraging communities to report crimes against women, children and people with disabilities without fear or favour, irrespective of who the perpetrator is. All wards are now working with CPFs within a policing area to monitor the rate of reporting on crimes against vulnerable groups and to keep a register of reported cases on a monthly basis.
We have also helped in establishing a welcoming environment, normally called "customer centres", in some of the police stations. We have trained compassionate and dedicated officers so that when you walk into a police station, you do not come across a very angry and ugly policeman or woman, but you are received with a friendly face.
Communities are also requested to spearhead the 16 days of Activism for No Violence Against Woment and Children so that each ward could have an activity to mark that day. We are also encouraging the participation of men in fighting crimes against women and children.
On our Know your Neighbourhood campaign, which is one of our very successful campaigns, we are encouraging communities to actually take an interest in knowing who is staying in each and every house in their neighbourhood, thus they will be able to identify criminals, criminal elements and their modus operandi. By this, we are encouraging people to be oMaMgobhozi, nabobab' uMgobhozi, babe yizimpimpi [police informers] instead of them walking into their homes and switching on their TVs and not caring about what is actually happening in their neighbourhood. We are saying that those days are gone.
Umama nobaba kumele bakwazi ukuma esangweni - uyakhumbula ngaleziya zinsuku lapho sasigcobisa isikekezi kanye nezingubo zokulala ezidabukile sime othangweni. [Mother and father should be able to stand by the gate - do you recall way back in the day when we stood by the fence with cream on our faces and torn sleepwear?]
We are encouraging them to actually do that. Communities will take care of their environmental design and have regular Letsema campaigns in order to cut long grass and report lights that are not working. We are also mobilising our communities to join the patrol movement. In very dark areas, before service delivery comes, people will feel safe whilst walking to school.
With our school safety programme, we are encouraging communities to spearhead the safety of schools programme. Parents should also involve themselves in knowing where their children are during school time. Learners should be in school on time and learning.
We are hoping that with this important budget, we will be able to implement more. I thank you. [Applause.]