DA in Gauteng calls on Premier to prioritise crime-fighting


The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is set to picket outside Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s Johannesburg office today, to strengthen crime-fighting measures in the province. 

The party claims South African Police Service (SAPS) stations are severely under-resourced and understaffed.

This, despite the Premier’s previous pledge to prioritise crime-fighting.

DA Gauteng leader and leader of the opposition in the Gauteng Legislature, Solly Msimanga, says that many police stations in the province have fewer resources and they want Lesufi to do something about that.

“Over a month and a half ago, we’ve embarked on an anti-crime campaign where we started visiting all the police stations around Gauteng, looking at the state of our police stations and seeing how crime is affecting business and people. In most of the police stations, there is a severe vehicle shortage. We have detectives handling 200 cases each that tells you we are not moving in the direction we are supposed to go. A number of police stations don’t have telephone lines. If you call the police station right now, you’ll not get a response. 

PODCAST | SAfm’s First Take SA spoke to the DA’s Solly Msimanga about the picket: