Community Safety Portfolio Committee joins the public to combat crime in Umkhanyakude

Members of Community Safety Portfolio Committee at the South Africa/Mozambique border

Members of Community Safety Portfolio Committee at the South Africa/Mozambique border

Crime levels in Umkhanyakude District have reached alarming proportions with cross-border crime, particularly car thefts between South Africa and Mozambique having reached alarming proportions.

This has prompted the Community Safety Portfolio Committee, under the leadership of the committee chairperson, Hon. Bheki Ntuli, to visit the district recently with an aim of holding meetings with communities, local leadership and members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to find solutions to the scourge of crime in that part of the province.

The committee started off its oversight work by visiting an illegal South Africa/Mozambique border post, notoriously known as Gate 6, where most cars stolen from South Africa are smuggled to Mozambique to be sold to crime syndicates.

At Gate 6, the committee held a meeting with commanders of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) who patrol that part of the border and SAPS top brass where they received a full briefing on the crime situation along Gate 6.

Committee members were informed that both the SANDF and SAPS lacked necessary resources to fight cross-border crime especially stealing of vehicles from South Africa. There were few members deployed along the border with insufficient equipment for intelligence gathering and that there was no proper fence along the border. That made it easy for criminals to remove the fence and smuggle vehicles across Mozambique. Even Mozambican people easily cross the fence to South Africa without any documentation.

The committee later held a public meeting at Umhlabuyalingana Municipality which was attended by local leadership including Amakhosi, councillors, members of CPFs, SAPS and other stakeholders. The meeting deliberated on a number of crime fighting initiatives and strategies which were aimed at bringing the levels of crime down.

It was noted that there was a lack of co-operation from the Mozambican authorities to stop cross-border vehicle theft once stolen vehicles reach the Mozambican side. Attempts to allow South Africa to build a base inside Mozambique have been obstructed in the past.

Committee members were unanimous in that there is a need for a high-level political intervention between South Africa and Mozambique that will find a lasting solution to the issue of cross-border crime. A bilateral meeting between governments of South Africa and Mozambique should be convened to resolve cross-border crime.

The committee also visited other police stations in Umkhanyakude including Mbazwana to get first-hand information on the issue of crime and how those police stations were dealing with it. On the last day, the committee visited Hlabisa police station and later held a public meeting with the community and other stakeholders. Committee members were informed that crime such as business robberies was on the rise in Hlabisa. The local police station lacks basic resources such as working telephones to enable the public to report crime as it happens.

Community Safety Portfolio Committee listens to a community member making input during an oversight visit to Umhlabuyalingana

Community Safety Portfolio Committee listens to a community member making input during an oversight visit to Umhlabuyalingana

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Taking the Legislature to the People provides communities with direct access to their public representatives

Public interaction session at Durnacol Sport Complex

Public interaction session at Durnacol Sport Complex

Section 118 of the Constitution of the Republic places an obligation on all Provincial Legislatures to facilitate public involvement in their law making and oversight functions. The aim is to enable the citizens of this country to participate meaningfully in the governance of their lives. This also provides the citizens an opportunity to engage directly with their public representatives in order to raise their concerns and challenges which require government’s intervention.

In keeping with this constitutional obligation, the KwaZulu-Natal Legislature, led by Speaker Johnson, held a two day sitting away from its chambers in Pietermaritzburg and took the Legislature to Amajuba District where ordinary citizens were afforded an opportunity to interact with their public representatives.

The sitting was held at Dunarcol Sport Complex in Dannhauser Municipality on 27 and 28 October 2016, where people of Amajuba District were able to raise issues that affect them directly in the presence of Members including the Provincial Cabinet. People were able to raise their concerns about service delivery ranging from water shortages, housing, agriculture (access to farming), poverty, unemployment, health facilities, social development programmes.
MECs responded to the issues raised by the community and provided plans to address them. On the last day of the sitting, Premier Willies Mchunu presented a detailed report which included the provincial government’s programme of addressing the challenges facing the community of Amajuba District.

The two day sitting was a follow up to the visits by the multiparty committee which conducted oversight on the level of service delivery in all municipalities under Amajuba. The multiparty committee, led by the Chair of Chairs Hon. Sipho Gcabashe, inspected various service delivery projects to assess their successes and challenges. The multiparty delegation had compiled a comprehensive oversight report which was presented to the people of Amajuba on the first day of the sitting.

The multiparty delegation inspecting a housing project in Newcastle

The multiparty delegation inspecting a housing project in Newcastle

The multiparty delegation inspecting a housing project in Newcastle
Since 2004, the Legislature has visited all districts of KwaZulu-Natal to give citizens an opportunity to engage directly with their elected representatives. The programme also assists Members to gain first-hand information on the level of service delivery in communities, in order to accelerate service delivery especially in rural areas. The Legislature will continue with this programme of taking the Legislature to the people to ensure that all citizens of KwaZulu-Natal benefit from the fruits of democracy.

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