Chairperson, Ministers and Deputy Ministers, Minister of Police, Comrade Nathi Mthethwa, hon Members of Parliament, distinguished guests, comrades, compatriots, ladies and gentlemen and fellow South Africans, I want to start with the disclaimer that this is my maiden speech. So, for everything that I will say, that must be taken into consideration. I know nothing about Parliament; I've never been to Parliament.
This year we commemorate 30 years since the brutal murder of Solomon Kalushi Mahlangu by the apartheid state. His life was prematurely terminated at its prime tender age of 23. His life continues to inspire our forward momentum towards a truly emancipated society at peace with itself. Our commitment to the realisation of the ideals embodied in the Freedom Charter of peace, security and comfort enjoins us to become champions in the fight against crime in all its manifestations.
The Constitution demands of us to create a nation state free from crime with citizens living in harmony. We dare not fail in our duty to advance towards such a reality, and we will dedicate every resource at our disposal in the war against crime. This is not only the responsibility of government, but a shared obligation which demands of every citizen to join in this collective effort to cleanse our communities from the cancer of crime. We invite every patriotic South African to join us in the new deal to uproot crime and reclaim our streets from criminals.
Let me add my weight to what the Minister of Police raised about the Fifa Confederations Cup. On Sunday 28 June 2009, the Fifa Confederations Cup 2009 officially came to an end. We salute our police personnel who have shown dedication and commitment in pursuit of their constitutional obligation to protect the citizens as well as the visitors from crime. The Confederations Cup was an acid test of our capability to defend our citizens and visitors from the scourge of crime, and our women and men in blue passed with flying colours. [Applause.]
It is our commitment that this capability must permeate to the everyday activities of the SA Police Service and must result in lower crime rates and higher conviction rates of criminals. The commendable actions of our police officers and the superior levels of co-ordination and co-operation with other security agencies demonstrated to the world that South Africa and its people are ready to host the largest sporting extravaganza in a peaceful and secure manner. We must take this opportunity to thank all those women and men in blue who continue to make us proud by executing their duties with diligence, commitment and dedication.
Despite our best efforts, our detractors and agents provocateurs continue their attempts to project us in a bad light as incompetent and incapable of successfully hosting an event of the magnitude of 2010. Indeed, they did not hesitate to blow out of proportion incidents that were otherwise nothing more than minor and isolated. The most prominent of these stories is one that involved players of one of the teams that were competing in the Confederations Cup and an alleged incident of theft from their hotel rooms. While the incident was regrettable and unfortunate, we were more disappointed by the manner in which our local media sensationalised and blew the story out of proportion and fed an international media frenzy around what proved to be a non-event in the end.
Streaming headlines were broadcast from newsrooms around the world creating an impression that the Confederations Cup tournament was being held against the backdrop of extreme levels of crime. We dare declare, without fear of contradiction, that the Confederations Cup was a resounding success, held in a safe and secure environment, with no major crime incidents directly related to the tournament reported.
Our police officers place their lives in harm's way as they undertake their duty of confronting the scourge of crime in our communities. Many have paid the ultimate price with their lives and have perished in the line of duty. We must honour these unsung heroes and heroines with an unwavering commitment to intensify the fight against crime and make the crime of injuring or killing a police office an extremely serious one. I dedicate this speech to these gallant defenders of our nation who have chosen a career to fight crime and to strengthen the operational effectiveness and efficiency of the SA Police Service. In the line of duty they face numerous challenges, serious injuries and even death.
The ferocity with which we will deal with the killing of police officers is the first step of many that seek to underpin the value we place on our officers as protectors of our people and foot soldiers in our war against crime and corruption. We are committed to taking extraordinary measures should the occasion require such interventions in order to demonstrate our seriousness. We will not tolerate the killing of our law enforcers and we will do everything in our power to throw the book at those who believe they can attack our officers with impunity. Between the 2004-05 and 2008-09 financial years, 510 police officers died in the line of duty, killed by criminals. In the 2008-09 financial year, 106 police officers perished in the line of duty. Each death of a police officer is one death too many, and we say enough is enough. Washa tsotsi. [Criminals beware.] [Applause.] Our singular resolve is to ensure that criminals pay the ultimate price for their actions, and that we are able to address the scourge of crime in a sustainable way. This, in itself, is a signal that the honeymoon is over and we have every intention to be ruthless and unapologetic in uprooting the cancer of crime from our communities. We are determined to introduce new approaches to solve old problems and ensure coherence and sustainability in our initiatives. Those who think committing crime, which includes killing police officers, is fashionable will face the full might of the law. We are under no illusion about the daunting task that lies ahead.
In the coming months we will launch operation "Washa tsotsi" [Criminals beware] as a popular mobilisation programme, mobilising communities against crime in all its manifestations. "Washa tsotsi" [Criminals beware] is a radical African expression and a display of strength and zealousness against one's enemy. It is a weapon to instil fear and respect in one's strategic opponent. It is an expression of readiness of one's forces of war. It is an exhibition of strength. It is a war cry. This operation will be community-led, based on the strategic isolation of criminals and those who harbour them. It is based on the popular partnership between the police and the community at large in the fight against crime and criminality. This will make entertainment centres unbearable for criminals. It is the criminals who must be on the run, not the police and society.
This operation will also ensure that those who thrive on selling and buying stolen goods face the full might of the law. It will entail a practical roll-out of a reject-and-report-stolen-goods campaign, which continues to make an impact on the reduction of crime. The operation will also incorporate the strategy of the Western Cape, the people-oriented sustained strategy, which seeks to generate a shared understanding among the people of the Western Cape of what crime prevention involves. This is essential in providing a beacon for collective and integrated action.
Comrade Oliver Tambo, a giant of our revolution and an architect of our democracy once said, "In the life of a nation, there comes a time when a nation is faced with the difficult choice of whether to submit or fight." We refuse to submit to criminals who continue to instil fear among the peace-loving citizens of South Africa, and we will fight them on every corner, on every street and in every community where they hide. We are confident that this is a war we will win. We say to them: The jig is up.
Amasi abekw'elangeni. [The jig is up.]
We pledge to the people of South Africa that we will fight crime in all its facets and manifestations. The commitment made by the former Minister of Safety and Security, the late Comrade Steve Tshwete, when he said, "we will deal with criminals with the ferocity of a cornered bull and with the agility of a cat; we will deal with them the way a bulldog deals with a bone", continues to reverberate to this day. We recommit ourselves to that commitment, and we will show no mercy in throwing the book at criminals and those who harbour them. Let it be known today that the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah awaits them. Our patience has been tempted to the limit and communities have grown tired of living in constant fear. It can never be acceptable that people cannot feel safe in their own homes. We will employ every resource at our disposal to hunt down criminals and ensure that the criminal justice system allows us to effectively lock them up and throw away the key.
There are three pivotal principles in combating crime, particularly with regard to its unique random and violent nature in our country: firstly, the fight against crime cannot uncritically be separated from the war of want. At the core of this principle are incidents of contact crime such as rape, murder and grievous bodily harm.
Secondly, in this fight against crime, specific mindsets and historical conditions drive elements of the crime problem. Among these are the proliferation of firearms in the hands of civilians; greed and conspicuous consumption; and the psychology of patriarchal power relations and attitudes towards weaker members of society, particularly women, children, the elderly and people with disabilities.
Thirdly, the networks of crime have grown in their reach and sophistication and traverse national boundaries. Included in this are syndicates that deal with money-laundering, human trafficking, cash-in-transit heists, ATM bombings as well as drug trafficking.
In order for the outcomes of our war against crime to be sustainable, it is imperative that the country's developmental agenda should aim at gradually eliminating some of the social and economic conditions that breed crime. This should help contribute towards creating an enabling environment for peace, security, stability and economic freedom.
The overarching strategy in the war against crime is the mobilisation of society to bring criminals to book. This includes an overhaul of race, class, gender and family relations and intolerance of abuse and crime within communities. Critical to this is a radical transformation of state institutions to become truly responsive to the notion of a developmental state. This should be coupled with the radical implementation of effective and efficient regulation of the private security industry. We need to continue to deepen and expand co-operation among law-enforcement agencies in the country, region and further afield. In fact, attention should be paid to any remaining apartheid networks of dirty war and spies, some of which are an integral part of the criminal networks.
As part of our efforts to implement a coherent and focused programme in fighting crime, unapologetically, we commit ourselves to the unwavering implementation of the ANC's 52nd national conference resolutions, including the process of placing municipal, metro and traffic police under the command and control of the National Commissioner of the SAPS as a force multiplier.
As we put these priorities before you, it is worth remembering that in 2004 we committed to reducing crime by 7% to 10% per annum. Thus, we need, as a matter of urgency, to establish the community safety forums. There should also be a clear alignment of the justice cluster. The success in policing is reliant on effective community participation for the effectiveness of the sector policing to ensure closer co-operation and integration.
Young people, like some of the people I've heard vulgarising the point, have reduced themselves to nothing but consumerists, not active participants in the process of radically transforming society. Young people must also be involved in the massive programme of community policing and safety that will include street patrols at night and have stipends paid by government. Thank you very much. [Time expired.] [Applause.]