Cape Town – The Democratic Alliance (DA) has launched a petition calling for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Police Minister Bheki Cele and hire someone who ‘is capable of leading the South Africa Police Service”.
The petition, which has been signed by over 5 000 people claimed that the minister was failing both the SAPS and the country.
“Every day 67 people are murdered, 153 people are raped and 364 violent robberies occur. The July 2021 attempted insurrection cost South Africa hundreds of lives and R50 billion, while the police did nothing to prevent this. Our nation faces a safety crisis that can only be fixed by some major changes at the SAPS,” the petition stated.
The DA also made a number of recommendations to be implemented after Cele’s removal as police minister, and these included increasing the number of policing boots on the ground, demilitarising and professionalising SAPS, eradicating backlog of DNA samples, creating rural community policing units and strengthening community policing partnerships, among others.
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The DA was not the only party gunning for Cele’s removal as police minister.
Speaking during a media briefing on Thursday, Economic Freedom Fighters leader, Julius Malema called for Cele’s resignation.
“Who keeps his job after so many children have died in the Eastern Cape? Who keeps his job when the crime levels are so high? We need our police back. The state is now descending into a lawless state.
“Our people are not safe and government is nowhere to protect and save the people,” The Citizen quoted Malema as saying.
Malema also called on citizens to join in a national shutdown, “to demand our country back from an incompetent, directionless, and a criminal syndicate that enjoys the protection of white monopoly capital and its media”, reports said.
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Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
