• Honourable Speaker;
• Honourable Deputy Speaker;
• Honourable Premier of the Free State Provincial Government;
• Honourable Members of the Executive Council and Legislature;
• Honourable Mayors and Councillors;
• Provincial Police Commissioner, Commissioner Mashigo;
• The General Commanding Officer of Tempe Military Base, Brigadier- General Moadira;
• Provincial Commissioner of the Correctional Service, Commissioner Modise;
• Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Members of the Police Service;
• Chairperson of the Provincial Policing Board, Mr. Matuka and Members of the CPF;
• Provincial Heads of the ICD; NIA; Gender Equality Commission and Human Rights Commission, Youth Commission;
• Esteemed Guests;
• Ladies and Gentlemen;
• And my dear Comrades.

Honourable Speaker,
An American sociologist C. Wright Mills wrote the following:
“ We have come to know that every individual lives, from one generation to the next, in some society. That he lives out a biography, and that he lives it out within some historical sequence.
By the fact of his living he contributes, however minutely, to the shaping of this society and to the course of its history, even as he is made by society and its historical push shove”.

Honourable Speaker,
Many of us in this House have been influenced by the political and intellectual history of the communities and families from which we come, and that history continues to inform our approach to the challenge of crime in our societies.

This is the year of Mass Mobilization to Build a Caring Society, Advance in Unity Towards 2012.

To us, mobilizing the masses to build a caring society actually implies that as we humanely and morally respond to the felt demands for a socially and economically just society, we equally ought not to forget that the ethic of care is a fundamental value in which collaborative responsibility is embedded.

In the context of crime reduction, the 2008 Anniversary Statement of the African National Congress eloquently states:

“ In reviving the culture of mass mobilization, we must seek active partnerships with civil society, non-governmental organizations and community-based organizations and all other formations, to form a broad front against crime and all social ills afflicting our communities”.

Our Province has a list of urgent problems, crime is one of the most pressing. The direct pain and trauma it causes, the fear and despair it engenders, the social and political distortions it creates and reinforces.

If we are to build a Province we clearly have the potential to be, if we are to transcend our half-completedness, it is absolutely essential that we build a Province that can protect its citizens from the more dangerous of their
compatriots.

We have come a long way since the birth of our democracy and acknowledge that we still confront substantial challenges when it comes to safety and security. We fully understand that effective crime prevention and reduction requires more than simply adequate policing. The police react to the consequences of crime as opposed to tackling the multitude of important social fabric factors that drive criminality, e.g. poverty, unemployment, inequality, education levels and family disintegration.

However, the police are the public face of Government’s efforts to ensure law and order and to provide a service that enhances the safety and security of society. Strengths and shortcomings of the police, therefore, have direct implications for the way citizens perceive and respond to state authority.

During this financial year we shall ensure that effective and strategic partnerships are established in each and every ward. And we shall ensure that each and every street is mobilized and ready to fight criminals out of our neighbourhood. We shall engage in a “Know your Neighbour Campaign”. This campaign is intended to close the distance opening amongst community members. It should build bridges to bring together families and neighbours in a concerted effort to building a caring society.

We will mobilize all the religious and faith based organizations, businesss, sports bodies and institutions to realize these objectives. Our priority is to build capacity of the Community Policing Forums and renew the mandates of the existing CPFs.

Community Mobilization in Rural Areas: Farming and Border Communities

Firstly, we committed the Department of Public Safety, Security and Liaison to the creation of a multi-stakeholder platform that would seek a sustainable solution to crime and human rights violations that afflict rural communities, especially in farming and the Free State/Lesotho border areas.

We are delighted to report today that a multi-stakeholder team consisting of the provincial government departments, organized agriculture, organized labour and organized local government managed to draft the Integrated Free State Provincial Rural Safety Strategy in 2007/2008.

The identified rural safety priorities include the delivery of effective, efficient and far reaching criminal justice services, the empowerment of rural community members through participation in crime prevention initiatives, and the promotion and protection of the basic human rights of all members of the rural communities, both in farming and along the border areas.

Secondly, we committed the Department to the facilitation of cross-border crime reduction along the Free State/Lesotho border. Multiple collaborative relations were established and improved along the Free State/ Lesotho borderline through
our selfless endeavours to strengthen the coordination and integration of the implementation of the transnational crime reduction policy. These included the establishment and functioning of democratic cross-border structures to vocalize community safety preferences through the District Liaison Committees (DLCs) and Community Police Forums (CPFs) in border areas.

Honourable Speaker,

On the 13th February 2008 the Minister of Safety and Security, inputting on the President’s State of the Nation Address, mentioned that:

“We have noted that Home Affairs, working with the National Treasury, Intelligence and the Police, are developing a new border control strategy. That strategy will enhance the fight against organized crime and stem the tide of illegal entry into our country by foreign organized criminal gangs”.

This demonstrates our resolve to ensure that we deal with crime from all quarters. Our budget this year will be committed to the main project of involving the people of the Free State in standing up and be counted in the fight against crime.

KE NA LE MATLA CAMPAIGN
This campaign should recreate the spirit of unity and purpose demonstrated by the Luthuli Detachment, comrades such as Lennox Lagu, Chris Hani, Peter fane, Douglas Wana, Mbijana, Victor Dlamini, Castro, Mashigo, Paul Sithole, Desmond, Wilson Msweli, Shooter Makasi, Eric Nduna, Basil February and James April. These comrades and many others overcame many obstacles and difficult conditions. All these were made possible because of their dedication, commitment, bravery, unity of purpose and the love of their people.

As we celebrate the heroic life of Cde. Hani and as we recall the campaigns he was involved in just before he was killed, we cannot but redouble our efforts to fighting and defeating crime. We call on the young people to come forward and swell the ranks of the volunteers who stand up to protect their communities.

Honourable Speaker,
It is, therefore, appropriate for us to announce that this financial year we will celebrate the life of Cde. Chris Hani and many other heroes and heroines of our country, by recruiting many young volunteers to belong to the “Chris Hani Peace Ambassadors”.

As the Luthuli Detachments overcame many of their challenges, we believe with our people saying enough is enough, the Chris Hani Peace Ambassadors will overcome the criminals and bring pride of our young people back as protectors of our communities.

We have the power to defeat crime. “Ke Na Le Matla Campaign” aims at doing the following:

• Mobilize communities to reclaim their streets, churches, schools, homes, communities etc. back.
• Mobilize members of our communities to effectively participate in the Community Policing Forums, Community Safety Forums, etc.
• Ensure that our schools are free of drugs and alcohol abuse and that they are safe for our children to learn effectively and enjoy the challenges of being young without the temptations inviting them to go astray.
• Turn all Police Stations into centres of community mobilization of all programmes to fight crime.

Honourable Speaker,
A more aggressive approach to criminals would mean making the unauthorized carrying of firearms a priority offence while also working hard to restrict access to guns. Detectives should work backwards from every gun crime to the source of the weapon so that anyone who has lost a firearm negligently can be held financially liable for whatever harm it causes later. We should come down hard on anyone who helps a criminal make use of the proceeds of crime, as well as on the car dealers and estate agents and anyone else who doesn’t alert the authorities to customers with funds they should be suspicious about.

Our desire and commitment to building a healthy and caring society demands of us to question the kind of society emerging if we allow the situation of excessive abuse of alcohol to go unchallenged. In Mangaung alone we have more than 170 illegal shebeens and more than 20 legal taverns. Considering that social crimes are at the rise and are directly linked to these drinking wells.

These shebeens, throughout the Province, generate much of the Station Commissioners’ precinct’s crime because whether as victims or perpetrators, drunks make up a substantial portion of the tide of people washing through police stations every weekend. Drinking patterns in South Africa worsen the effect because we have among the highest rates of alcohol consumption per drinker in the world, as well as a tendency to binge. Alcohol’s use and abuse is a real problem. The zoning of these taverns leaves much to be desired. They are situated in our townships especially residential areas.

Guns are another matter. There is little doubt that too many people with anger-management issues have access to a firearm or that this means that when they do explode, the incident tends to be more lethal than it would otherwise be. And yet, as a society, we remain fascinated by guns, an unhealthy attitude given the rage that poisons so many people.

We have long recognized that some of the values held are among the many causes of crime. We are going to dedicate programmes aimed at teaching our communities to be less tolerant of crime. The “Ke Na Le Matla Campaign” shall help in developing better social values of becoming nicer to one another as one element of developing a society in which people choose not to do crime. It shall also help to foster more functional families.

The point is that our values are learnt through the circumstances and experiences of our lives. We need to remake the parts of our world which destabilize and devalue ordinary lives and which, in the process, reduce resilience to the lure of crime.

CONCLUSION

Honourable Speaker,
We would like to conclude by pointing out that democratic accountability places an obligation upon all of us to develop a compact of mutual collaborative responsibility. Instead of searching for someone to blame and punish, a mutual compact of collaborative responsibility demands that all of us who constitute the accountability environment (that is, those that are affected by the crime prevention policy, such as government, communities, business, etc) are undeniably accountable for the failure and success of efforts to strengthen communities against crime and to build a caring society.

It is therefore in the spirit of that mutual compact of collaborative responsibility that we thank the following political leaders, public managers and their teams for their priceless contribution to the creation of a safe Free State environment:

• the Premier of the Free State for her support to the Department;
• all the MECs; the Chairperson of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster;
• The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee for Agriculture, Safety and Security;
• Members of the Legislature
• We particularly salute the Provincial Police Commissioner;
• the Provincial Commissioner of the Correctional Services;
• the Commanding Officer of the Tempe Military Base;
• the Provincial Heads of the ICD and NIA and their outstanding teams;
• all volunteers for their courageous display of patriotic bias.
• We further need to convey words of gratitude to Business Against crime; communities; the leadership and members of the Community Police Forums; religious and faith-based organizations; traditional leaders and healers; organized labour; organized local government and organized agriculture for mobilizing the public against crime and other forms of anti-people behavior.
• Furthermore, I thank staff in my office and the entire Department.
• Lastly, I am profoundly indebted to my family for their support throughout the years.

Honourable Speaker,
With the total budget of R38 million which we are tabling today for the Department of Public Safety, Security and Liaison, we accept the 2008 challenge of Mass Mobilization to Build a Caring Society through the formation of a broad front against crime and all social ills afflicting our communities.

I THANK YOU