Thank you, Mr Chairman. In such circumstances, what could be expected of the lower ranks of the Police Service? What would raise their morale if their top leaders are not showing exemplary leadership?
Some other consequences of the leadership void are clear. Police brutality statistics around the country are absolutely appalling. Police officers were involved in the attack and death of Mido Macia, a Mozambican taxi driver, killed in police custody in 2013. Recently police members were accused of beating a 21-year-old woman to death - and there are many more open cases against the police. It seems that there is a wave of police violence that has been unleashed on our citizens.
South Africa needs a professional, highly motivated Police Service, not a police force, to fight the scourge of crime. It was wrong for the government to have allowed the former commissioner to pull the police back into its old military formation and approach to dealing with crime. Let us go back to the service mode and move away from a military approach to dealing with crime.
The IFP supports the Budget Votes. Thank you, Mr Chairperson. [Applause.]