Action Society called out the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele after he failed to release the most recent crime statistics as they promised to do today, especially given the fact that the 2024 elections are right around the corner. An election that threatens the position of the current regime, and one that many hope will be a turning point in the county’s current trajectory into complete ungovernable anarchy.
Today Bheki Cele revealed that the ANC is more important to him than South African’s safety. It’s bad enough that victims of violence have to wait hours for the police to show up for them at crime scenes. Now the whole country must wait for the police to report on it.
Action Society demands more transparency. Justice delayed is justice denied. Unfortunately the crime statistics, as horrific as they are, are a complete misrepresentation of the real crime situation in South Africa. People have lost all confidence in the police and the justice system and we believe crime is vastly underreported because of it.
This last minute and callous cancellation of the publication of quarterly crime statistics comes as an insult to the citizens of this country and illustrates the complete collapse of the police’s independence from the governing party amidst skyrocketing rates of violent crime and a public whose mistrust in the police is the highest it has ever been.
“It is a spit in the face for every South African and might serve as the last nail of the coffin of our failing police system. Action Society demands to know the reason behind this last minute cancellation and when it will eventually be released to the public,” said Action Society spokesperson Juanita du Preez.
