By Thapelo Molefe
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has tabled a R2.3 billion budget for the Department of Community Safety for the 2025/26 financial year, vowing to intensify the province’s fight against crime with better equipment, improved technology and stronger partnerships across government and civil society.
Speaking during the budget vote on Wednesday, Lesufi said Gauteng was beginning to see the results of its aggressive crime prevention approach.
“Gauteng has seen a decrease of 7.9% in community reported serious crimes during the first three months of 2025,” he said, quoting recent crime statistics from Provincial Police Commissioner Lt General Mthombeni.
In recent weeks, Gauteng police and partners have made high-profile arrests.
“Three days ago, a stone’s throw from this legislature, a group of criminals specialising in business robberies invaded various businesses, unaware that we’ve been monitoring them,” Lesufi said.
“After a mini skirmish, four of the criminals were reconnected with their creator and permanently removed from committing crime again in our province.”
To sustain progress, the province will allocate R184 million to administration, R271 million to the provincial secretariat and the largest portion, which is R1.9 billion, will go towards traffic management and direct crime-fighting programmes.
The province has already installed over 500 new CCTV cameras, in addition to 8000 cameras deployed in partnership with Vumacam.
Lesufi emphasised the role of new aerial and tactical support.
“We have made 863 arrests for CIT (cash-in-transit) heists and illegal mining, recovered 253 stolen vehicles and 162 illegal firearms, all using our helicopters,” he said.
In addition, the province handed over 166 vehicles to the SA Police Service, including mobile police stations and high-speed pursuit cars.
The province’s award-winning ePanic Button, used by nearly 100,000 citizens, also received praise after winning a Gold Medal at the Africa Public Service Awards for its role in emergency response.
Gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) remains a top priority.
“We are implementing a 365-day programme of action to bring awareness about the scourge of GBVF,” Lesufi said.
More than 1246 cases were tracked in 2024/25, with victims receiving psychosocial support, court preparation and legal assistance.
Opposition parties welcomed some parts of the plan, but they were concerned about execution.
The Economic Freedom Fighters slammed what it called a lack of infrastructure for victims of GBV.
“Of the 149 police stations with GBV rooms, only 34 have toilets dedicated to victims. This budget says little about improving dignity, privacy, or training officers to handle these cases properly.”
ActionSA’s John Moodey warned that citizens were not experiencing a positive impact, saying safety forums often acted more like police than community liaisons.
“Instead of encouraging communities to build crime prevention strategies, they crush local initiatives with a big brother approach,” Moodey said.
The Democratic Alliance’s Michael Sun criticised stalled programmes like the drone unit and inadequate support for kidnapping investigations.
“Your drone pilots are like a delayed flight while residents are stranded passengers still waiting at the gate called safety,” he said.
Responding to critics, Lesufi said the safety budget had been significantly increased from R800 million to R2.3 billion, directly answering previous opposition demands.
“When we increase it, you say it’s just numbers. When we don’t, you say it’s too low. We’re acting, not politicking,” he said.
He acknowledged challenges in GBV responses but pointed to arrests, improved technology and support services as signs of progress.
“The level of crime is unacceptable. But we are making gains, and this budget puts resources where they’re most needed,” Lesufi said.
He called for less political point scoring and more unity, saying crime affected everyone.
“Let’s fix this together,” he concluded.
INSIDE POLITICS