Mbalula: 'Lazy police are letting our people down'

Police Minister Fikile Mbalula on Tuesday criticised “lazy police” for failing to tackle crime.

He said crime had dropped by 1.8% but: “I don't feel it‚ and our people don't feel it.”

As Mbalula released crime statistics in parliament on Tuesday‚ Deputy Police Minister Bongani Mkongi was attending the funeral of his nephew Andile‚ who was stabbed in Gugulethu‚ a mere 20-minute drive from where the minister was speaking.

The annual statistics cover crimes committed between April 2016 and March 2017.

Making a statement before releasing the numbers‚ Mbalula said: “We must not see the statistics as mere numbers but as real feelings‚ real lives‚ real harm‚ real losses and death.”

Mbalula said crime is “generally down but there is a big problem that violent crime is going up”.

He admitted that police lacked leadership and had been impacted by the “chop and change” in leadership at SAPS.

Mbalula also said the numbers of crimes detected as a result of police action‚ were not sufficient.

He said this showed the “lazy efforts of police” and said “police are letting our people down”.

In contrast‚ acting national police commissioner Lesetja Mothiba said: “We are throwing everything at the criminals.”