PHUTI MOSOMANE and CHARLES MOLELE
GAUTENG Premier Panyaza Lesufi says his administration will unleash all resources at its disposal to tackle crime in Gauteng, including increasing the budget from R750 million to just over R1bn in the next three financial years.
Lesufi, who was speaking at his first State of the Province Address (SOPA), insisted that the issue of fighting crime should be declared an apex priority.
Crime statistics published by the South African Police Service (SAPS) last week revealed growing rates of violent crime and hijackings in Gauteng.
Outlining his plans to tackle the growing crisis, Lesufi said starting from the 1st of April 2023, government will start to connect suburb, townships, business districts, schools and other public places with high tech, face and car recognition CCTVs.
He said government will also arm residents with e-Panic buttons that will be linked to law enforcement agencies, CCTVs and the new state of the art Integrated Command Centre.
“Every citizen, every time they feel threatened, they can push the button, and this will alert authorities,” he said.
Among other measures to tackle crime, he said government will unveil two new helicopters at the beginning of the next financial year and add four additional helicopters within the 2023/2024 budget cycle.
“In order to strengthen our fight against crime, we need to revamp our legislation on
three crucial areas: registration of cars, because cars are a common denominator in violent crimes; either stolen or get away vehicles; elimination of illegal guns and the need to migrate our Province to use less cash in business transactions,” he said.
“We have also issued strict instructions to our law enforcement agencies to pull off those who continue to drive cars without number plates or fraudulent temporary permits. The abuse of fake blue lights are in the increase. A special unit to eliminate this phenomenon is being assembled.”
He said those with illegal guns were now playing God with people’s lives.
“They decide who lives and who dies. Together with the private security industry, we have found a solution that will assist in tracking stolen guns and locate them wherever they are in our country. We will firstly migrate our law enforcement agencies guns in this system then members of the public,” he said.
“To contribute to our desire to use less cash in business transactions in our province,
we urge our retailers and other businesses to join the hospitality industry in
eliminating cash transactions. If we all do so, we will see less, business robberies,
cash heists and ATM bombings.”
Lifestyle audits for senior managers
In a major push to ensure greater accountability and clean governance, Lesufi announced that senior officials in government will now undergo lifestyle audits.
“We are subjecting our public servants to lifestyle audits. This next phase involves the Director General, Heads of Department, Chief Executive Officers of GPG entities and officials in high-risk areas like Supply Chain Management and Finance,” he said.
He said the State Security Agency (SSA) was authorised by the then Premier David Makhura to conduct lifestyle audits on the Premier and all Members of the Executive Council (MECs).
“No conflict of interest was found. The new MECs will undergo a similar process to ensure that we conclude on this matter,” he said.
The three new Members of the Executive Council (MECs) are Mzi Khumalo, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela and Matome Chiloane.
Lesufi said the outcomes of the audits will be made available to the public as soon as the process is completed.
INSIDE POLITICS
