Wednesday 22 April 2015

National Police Commissioner, Riah Phiyega has a new BFF, Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula


The Commissioner has decided that the current wave of xenophobic violence is just too much for her and her team of incompetent cronies. So what does the esteemed Commissioner do? She does what any Head of protection services would do, round up assistance, and in this case, in the form of the country’s Defence Force, i.e. her new BFF Minister of Defence Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula!

Suffice it to say the SAPs police force was quite adept at putting down 34 striking miners  in 2012, see http://www.sahistory.org.za/article/marikana-massacre-16-august-2012. The police force was also efficient in arresting an unarmed Mozambican, Mido Macia, by dragging him behind their vehicle, until his death, see also http://mg.co.za/article/2013-02-28-taxi-driver-killed-after-alleged-police-brutality. There are countless other cases of sheer police brutality on South African citizens, with little or no consequences for the perpetrators of such acts. Some members of the SAPS that were caught on camera brutalising members of the public are still in their jobs with no action taken against them for their deeds.

The SAPS are now faced with a situation of real public disorder, in the form of the xenophobic attacks, and decides to wash their hands of it and let the Defence Force deal with a problem which falls within the ambit of their duties. For the Commissioner to claim that the situation is beyond their control, smacks of sheer incompetence or blatant buck passing.  I may be delusional, but it seems the protection of huge South African Corporate Assets (e.g. Lonmin Mines in North West) is much more important and valuable than the protection of normal South African or foreign citizen’s lives. The SAPS was quick and vigilant in stemming the threat from the striking miners at the Lonmin Platinum mines, to the extent that they readily killed 34 people in the process.

The crime statistics in South Africa has steadily increased since the Commissioner has taken over the helm.  The murder rate as at 2013/2014 compared to 2012/2013 had increased by 5%. Attempted murder had increased by 3.2%. Robbery, with aggravating circumstances, increased by a whopping 11.2%! Specifically, for the period of 2012/2013 South Africa’s murder rate per day at 31.1 per 100,000 was approximately 5 times higher than the global average rate of 6 per 100,000.

With this deterioration of the crime situation in South Africa, we should not be surprised when the Commissioner one day decides that it’s all getting too much for her, then proceeds to hand over her duty to her BFF, the Minister of Defence to control the levels of crime in South Africa. She might as well do that now while the going is good, before she is found guilty of negligence in the killing of 34 striking miners!

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