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The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police will hold the Minister of Police accountable for commitments made during a recent community imbizo regarding spiralling violent crime in Nelson Mandela Bay.

This feedback was contained in a reply by the Chairperson of the Police Portfolio Committee, Ian Cameron MP, to a letter I addressed to him requesting a committee oversight inspection to Nelson Mandela Bay, and specifically the gang-ridden Northern Areas.

During his recent community engagement in the Metro, the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, promised to deploy more boots on the ground and crime-fighting experts to Nelson Mandela Bay. However, grand crime-fighting commitments have been made in the past that were either not the correct interventions, or not properly implemented.

The Minister announced that an additional 301 police officers had already been deployed to Nelson Mandela Bay. However, this is not an intervention, as it forms part of the SAPS annual deployment of 10 000 recruits across the country, and is the number of officers already allocated to NMB.

Minister Mchunu’s plan to rope in 300 additional safety and security officers from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the EC Department of Community Safety has also gone up in smoke, as I received confirmation from the EC Community Safety MEC, Xolile Nqatha, that there is no money available in Nelson Mandela Bay, or the provincial Department of Community Safety to facilitate the deployment of additional officers.

The commitments made by the Minister raise more questions than answers, and Parliament must now step in and fulfil its oversight role.

Cameron confirmed that the Portfolio Committee on Police shares my concern about the ongoing scourge of gangsterism, violence and killings affecting Nelson Mandela Bay and particularly the Northern Areas.

He assured me that Parliament will hold the Minister of Police accountable for the commitments made during his community engagement.

Crime is spiralling out of control, and law enforcement alone cannot win the fight against gangsterism and violent crime – a multi-disciplinary approach led by Parliament is needed to battle this scourge.

The DA will continue the fight to rescue the people of the Northern Areas and Nelson Mandela Bay from the grip of gangsterism and violent crime.

Issued by Yusuf Cassim MPL - PE Northern Areas Constituency Leader