Crime, graft fight gaining ground

The government is making good progress in the fight against crime and corruption – and citizens feel safer today than they did in the past, Justice Minister Jeff Radebe has said.t

During a quarterly briefing by the government’s justice, crime prevention and security cluster in Pretoria on Tuesday, Radebe said the "government is making considerable progress in dealing with crime, particularly contact crimes".

"We have noted a decrease in murder as well as various other categories… achieved through co-ordinated cluster efforts, including improving the detection and conviction rates… (and through) a community-policing approach," he said.

He thanked the "millions of law-abiding" citizens who “continue to partner with government” in the battle against criminals.

But crime-fighting was being "stymied by the recent upsurge in police killings, which stood at 56 from (April to August)".

"A multidisciplinary committee has been formed to effectively manage investigations on police killings and counselling of their families."

Quoting from a recent Government Communication and Information System survey, Radebe said "there is a growing indication that South Africans are increasingly feeling safe". The number of citizens who viewed crime as a "major challenge" had dropped from 33 percent to 25 percent over the past year.

Radebe noted that the Correctional Matters Amendment Act, which came into effect this month, had a revised medical parole policy, a new management system for remand detainees and overall enhancement of the parole system.

Following a Constitutional Court ruling that requires the correctional services minister to consider parole for so-called "lifers" who were sentenced before March 1994, the minister has considered 386 such cases.

Of these inmates, 40 had been granted full parole, 72 given day parole, while 182 applicants were turned down as they did not qualify. These parolees would be among the first to be electronically tagged.

Radebe also revealed that, between April and August, the number of offenders added to the National Register of Sex Offenders had grown from 1 202 to 1 612.

"The register is intended to protect children and mentally disabled persons from those who have been convicted of sexual offences."

The courts were making progress in addressing case backlogs, he said, noting that the number of outstanding cases on the court rolls had decreased by 9.7 percent, from 218 660 in March to 197 391 in June, and decreased further to 192 487 by the end of July.

On other security-related matters, Radebe said the government "has noted concerns regarding the levels of corruption in our country".

The Anti-Corruption Task Team – an interministerial grouping – had made "significant progress" so far, with 42 corruption cases involving 116 accused and about R579 million in assets having been brought to court this year.

He also noted that President Jacob Zuma had issued 18 proclamations in 2011 – the most in a single year – authorising the Special Investigating Unit to probe various government departments and parastatals suspected of corruption, particularly with regard to procurement practices.

Renewed military deployments on South Africa’s borders also appeared to be paying dividends, with more than 20 000 “illegal foreigners” having been apprehended so far this year and more than R2.6m worth of contraband having been confiscated.

 

Source :  iol.co.za , Deon de Lange - September 7 2011

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