The DA has intensified its campaign to have Police Minister Bheki Cele removed from his position.
The official opposition marched to Cele’s office in Pretoria on Tuesday to call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to get rid of the police minister, saying that his failings have cost lives, the dignity and security of countless South Africans.
DA leader John Steenhuisen said Cele is the “most dangerously incompetent cabinet minister” in the country.
“Unity in the ANC trumps everything, even the lives of thousands of South African citizens, which is why Ramaphosa didn’t hesitate for a second to offer Cele his full backing during last week’s questions to the president in the National Assembly,” said Steenhuisen.
“The latest crime figures, the only true gauge of whether a police minister is doing his job or not, paint the grimmest of pictures. Every day in South Africa 67 people are murdered, 153 people are raped and 364 violent robberies occur.
“These numbers, coupled with an unacceptably low conviction rate, are an indication of a government that has lost the war on crime, and for this defeat the buck must stop with the police minister. He cannot remain in his job another day.”
Last week, Ramaphosa defended comments that some of the victims of the Krugersdorp mine dump were “lucky to only be raped once”. He said it was not Cele’s intention to say what he said, adding that he was lost in translation.
“But as far as his commitment, he was there soon after that incident happened and he was there amongst other leaders not only to care for the victims, but also to ensure that there is an investigation that has led to the arrest that has ensued,” said Ramaphosa.
But Steenhuisen charged that Cele is not the right man for the job.
He said: “There is no organisation, structure or business outside of the ANC government that would not have fired Police Minister Bheki Cele years ago had he been employed by them.
“It is only in this ANC government that a man who has presided over one of the worst violent crime waves outside of a war zone would still be rewarded with the perks, pay and power of a cabinet position. He is a danger to society and he must be fired. Bheki Cele must go.”
To read more political news and views, click here.
Follow @SundayWorldZA on Twitter and @sundayworldza on Instagram, or like our Facebook Page, Sunday World, by clicking here for the latest breaking news in South Africa. To Subscribe to Sunday World, click here.
