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15 June 2007

Madam Speaker and Deputy Speaker
Honourable Premier
Members of the Executive Council
Honourable Members of the Legislature
Our Honourable Traditional Leaders
Mayors and members of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Public Safety
Heads of Departments and other leaders of the Public Service
Provincial Commissioner and Management of South African Police Service (SAPS)
Leadership of religious faith bodies
Heads of the various institutions in the Criminal Justice and Security Cluster
Head of the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) in the province
Distinguished guests, friends and comrades

Madam Speaker, our budget and policy speech coincides with the commemoration tomorrow, of the 31st anniversary of the Soweto uprising. Let me take this opportunity to salute the outstanding heroes and heroines whose courage and their willingness to sacrifice their youthfulness made a huge contribution to the 1994 democratic breakthrough.

In 1981, during the occasion of the January 8th statement, OR Tambo said:

"History has imposed an obligation on the youth of today to occupy the forward trenches in the final assault on the bastions of racism, apartheid and colonialism. As the late 'Malome' Moses Kotane said in 1968 in a statement to the youth of South Africa: At this hour of destiny your country and your people needs you. The future of South Africa is yours and it will be what you make of it."

It is in this context that we want to reiterate what OR Tambo said 26 years ago that the youth of today has an obligation to occupy the forward trenches in the fight against crime. At this hour of destiny, we call upon the youth of this province to be in the fore-front in our fight against any form of criminality so that they determine the future of this province in a manner in which they want it to be.

During the 20th anniversary of the Soweto uprising, President Nelson Mandela said: "The empowerment and development of the youth is central to the whole process of the upliftment of our people and renewal of our society. The youth themselves continue to be a vital player among the forces engaged in the struggle for the fundamental transformation of our country." It is in this context that we call upon all youth in this province especial those who are in conflict with the law to stop committing crime and join hands with our people, Civilian Secretariat, South African Police Service (SAPS) and community structures in an effort to create safer communities.

It is equally our collective responsibility to assist these young people in order to ensure that things do not fall apart. Those of us who are law abiding citizens need to ask ourselves, what must we do to turn everybody who does not uphold the law to become a law abiding citizens like us? In order to deal with these challenges faced by our people in general and the youth in particular. President Thabo Mbeki during the fourth Nelson Mandela lecture in July 2006 said, "we must place at the centre of our daily activities the pursuit of the goals of social cohesion and human solidarity. We must therefore strive to integrate into the national consciousness the value system in the world outlook described as ubuntu. We must therefore constantly ask ourselves the question, what is it in our country that militates against social cohesion and human solidarity?"

The President in the same lecture further said: "I believe I know this as a matter of fact, that the greatest masses of our country everyday pray that the new South Africa that is being born will be a good, a moral, a humane and a caring South Africa which as it matures will progressively guarantee the happiness of all its citizens."

This is a belief which I also cherish and very much convinced that working together with these masses of our province, a dream of creating a province that is free from fear of any form of criminality will be born. In order to achieve all these, we need to build the capacity of our people to move from a negative to a positive spirit about life.

The Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, when delivering his 2007 Budget Speech, chose the important idea which is fundamental to our vision of building a people-centred society which is contain in the words "Human Life has equal worth." In this context he quoted Will Hutton, the British writer, who wrote: "The foundation of human association is the idea that all human life has equal worth and that human beings are equally all entitled to political, economic and social rights." These should be the core values that unite all of us in the fight against any form of evils that is attempting to corrode our moral values.

Madam Speaker, as the department that is at the coal face of fighting crime, we know that far too many law abiding citizens across the province, regardless of race, sex or class, suffer criminal victimisation whether in the form of rape and child molestation; robbery and murder. We fully understand the implication that crime has for the social fabric and the quality of life for our people.

It is in this context Madam Speaker that we have defined our central task being the construction of a people-centred society that will, in practice, demonstrate that it values every human being on an equal basis, determined that each should enjoy a life with dignity, regardless of social status.

All of us should acknowledge that the 300 years of colonial rule as part of our history has left us with a deeply entrenched legacy that could not, but help us dictate what we need to do in response to the imperative to develop our country according to the ubuntu precept that "human life has equal worth." As a result of this history, we have inherited a difficult legacy which includes amongst others:

* Widespread and deeply entrenched poverty, underpinned by high level of unemployment which constitutes the main causes of crime.
* Gross imbalances in the distribution of wealth, income and opportunity along the structural fault line of race, gender and geographic area.
* A society with a long history of violence, which created a permissive environment that encouraged individuals to resort to violence as a means to settle personal disputes.
* The usage of the state machinery like police and courts to serve the interest of the minority as well as repress the majority.

Since the 1994 democratic dispensation, we have been working very hard to transform these institutions so that they serve the interest of the majority which inspires every one in our society to experience the reality that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white.

We are aware of various surveys that have been conducted that reveal that far too many South Africans live in fear because of crime. They do not feel safe in their homes, in the streets during both night and day. Whether these fears are informed by the reality of the situation, is immaterial. The truth of the matter is that those fears are real and it's our responsibility to deal with them and rebuild confidence in our people. What we need to do as a matter of extreme urgency, is to bring the levels of crime down faster!

We are also aware of the high cost crime has to the business sector especially in the form of increased costs for insurance, security and productivity in general. This causes our businesses to be less competitive on a global scale, it also scares away potential foreign investors; this in turn affects our capacity as government to accelerate on our priorities of ending poverty and unemployment. Crime also imposes additional costs on households as they have to pay more towards securing their homes and belongings whereas they could have been using that money for personal savings.

It is against this background that, we would like to sketch how we are doing as a province. Increasingly, we are experiencing crimes which also target members of the SAPS, the very custodians of peace and security. Allow me Madam Speaker, to share with this august house some of the crime trends over the past year:

A police Captain died of gunshot wounds by an unknown assailant while visiting a friend at Lihawu, near Nelspruit. Two police officers were killed in the course of an armed robbery at a Standard Bank in Standerton. A police Sergeant was found murdered and dumped next to a sewer dam in a veld in Vukuzakhe Township near Volksrust. A suspect, who was found with the deceased's firearm in his possession, was arrested.

A policeman was murdered by an on-bail suspect at Mhluzi, near Middelburg. A police Constable stationed at Lydenburg SAPS was off duty, walking home when he was attacked by four unknown males. A member of the Police Task force was fatally wounded in a shoot-out between the police and three suspects of armed robbery. Other crimes include Social Grants fraud, with 41 suspects appearing in the Witbank Magistrate's Court and the recovery of R5 million. Three people, found with what was suspected to be stolen goods, were caught in Clau-Clau near Nelspruit by the members of the community, tied with wire, severely and savagely assaulted and consequently died. Seven suspects were ambushed while committing armed robbery at Mhluzi, near Middelburg.

This was after they had robbed a shop owner of an undisclosed amount of cash. Three of the suspects were shot by a guard who was hiding in the store room. One suspect died on the scene and two others were taken to hospital. Eighteen suspected drug dealers were arrested in Delmas and Bethal and a further seven members of the same gang was arrested in Gauteng. They have since appeared in court in Delmas, granted bail but placed under house arrest by the magistrate.

In Amersfort one female suspect was mistakenly detained overnight with six male suspects. The male suspects raped their female counterpart throughout the night. The two police officers responsible for this mistake were charged criminally and departmentally. In the criminal case, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) refused to prosecute. The department found the two officers guilty and sentenced them to 12 months dismissal suspended sentences.

Two farm murder suspects were arrested in Lebowakgomo for the murder of a farmer in Groblersdal. It is alleged that the suspects overpowered their victim before shooting him in the back, thereafter; the suspects stole a car, a 22 and a 38 revolvers and about R2 000 in cash. Police were called to two cases of family murders in Secunda. In both cases, the man shot his wife and then himself. The cases happened two days apart.

Madam Speaker and Honourable members: Is this a bleak picture of our province? We don't believe so. To characterise the situation as bleak would be to pour cold water on the efforts of our police officers who are at all times working extra-ordinary and often exposing their own lives to peril. It is our belief that we should commend their work and support them in any manner meaningful.

The achievement of a peaceful transition into a new dispensation when judged against a background of a history of conquest, dispossession, slavery and oppression is truly remarkable. And yet just over 13 years into our new dispensation, our mood especially in the areas of Safety and Security has since been oscillating between hope and despair.

We further hold the view that safety and security requires a broad and integrated approach which is derived from the principle of co-operative governance and intergovernmental relations as embedded in the constitution of the Republic of South Africa, which clearly states that all spheres of government and all organs of state within each spheres must preserve peace, national unity and indivisibility of the republic.

This situation on crime needs to be addressed in part by perfecting the tried and tested methods that have worked for us in the past, as well as resorting to new measures to meet our challenges. The history of violence in South Africa lends itself towards perpetuation of crime. As we march together in this "Age of hope," we must be prepared to deliver on the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens, defend the defenceless, particularly the vulnerable groups which include the elderly, women, children and people with disability. We must make real our vision to make Mpumalanga a safe, secure and crime-free province.

Social crime and crime prevention

Madam Speaker key to the success of fight against crime is, among others, the promotion of partnership between the police and the communities. This partnership was properly articulated by the Minister of Finance, when, during his budget speech 2007, said: "But, effective crime fighting depends on partnership between our law enforcement agencies and communities. Through community forums, all citizens have the opportunity to contribute towards making their communities safer." In this way each person can make a contribution in the construction of a people-centred society where human life has equal worth.

Madam Speaker, we know where we are coming from, a history where an emphasis was placed on the security concerns of the state as opposed to a wider notion which emphasis the security of the people. Therefore, our task is to educate communities to understand and accept that the SAPS are their police and are there to serve them.

As part of our strategy to build capacity in police stations, transform the SAPS, We have begun with the restructuring process, redeployment of senior police officers to be in charge of police stations, through affirmative action, deployed female officers who are also doing a remarkable work.

Madam Speaker, let me indicate that the following police stations have been strengthened and are now headed by the Assistant Commissioners and or Directors: Witbank, KaNyamazane, Middelburg, Kabokweni, Vosman, Ermelo and Kwa-Mhlanga. The impact of such deployment is beginning to yield positive results in some of these police stations like Vosman, Middelburg, and Ermelo, to mention just a few.

During the restructuring process there have been negative reports that specialised units with the SAPS have been disbanded, creating a challenge for survivors of violence to access the services they need. This inaccuracy has been repeated for months in various local newspapers, despite all attempts by the SAPS to explain that this is not the case. On the contrary, the special units have been devolved to local police stations so that increased oversight of their work strengthens their provision of services to communities.

In addition, government has, through the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), prioritised specialised treatment of abused women and children through the Thuthuzela Care Centres. These centres provide a doctor to the rape survivor, who will in the quickest possible time assist with medical examination and extract evidence for use in court. Prosecutors are available at all times to help guide the investigation process so that a strong case is presented in court to secure conviction.

During this financial year, 2007/08, we shall be putting more emphasis on crime prevention by increasing visible policing with an aim of reducing social contact crime such as murder, rape, robbery, assault with an intention to cause grievous bodily harm etc by seven to ten percent. We shall further intensify our policing efforts and strategies on property related and commercial crimes such as house and business burglary, theft of motor vehicles, stock theft illegal possession of firearms as well as drug related crime.

Madam Speaker, as we step up the fight against all these crimes as stipulated, we must at all times ask ourselves what cultural, social and economic conditions that give rise to all these crimes. We cannot, Madam Speaker escape the fact that the culture of greed plays a role in driving crime. A long term, sustainable solution lies in addressing the causes of crime and the conditions that give rise to the alienation of some in our communities. It is our belief Madam Speaker that only a stronger sense of society, of community, of family; a sense of responsibility to each other creation of trust between the police and the community; can heal the fractures that give rise to crime.

The Community Policing Forum (CPF) since their establishment almost ten years ago, have not been successful to massively mobilise our society in a united front against crime. This inability by our CPFs to root police amongst the community is due to the structural arrangement of the current CPFs. It is in this context that we are revamping the working of these structures so that they are able to effectively perform their task of properly co-ordinating the relationship between the communities and the police. We are finalising, together with them, under the leadership of their provincial Chairperson, who is also a National Chairperson of CPFs, Mr Mandla Mphuthi and our strategy on how to raise their profile so that they can effectively perform their functions.

This structural arrangement which I referred to above came as a result of the South African Police Act, which located them within SAPS in terms of their establishment and resources. It is however clear that, if the CPFs, for all intents and purposes, should play an oversight role over the police, they should not be structured in the way they are currently structured. They should be a structure that represent the communities and speak on their behalf.

As a result of this weakness, we are now coming up with a new arrangement which will allow CPFs to act as facilitators between the community and the police. This approach will require CPFs to act on behalf of communities, facilitate discussion with the police, the policing priorities of that community and put together a policing master plan that will be collectively owned by communities and police.

The station commissioners will be required to, at least once per quarter go back to the communities and report on the crime trends in their areas and to what extent they are succeeding to deal with crime. The communities will therefore be given an opportunity through this process to assess police performance based on the policing priorities and targets that were set in the master plan which has been agreed upon between the community and the station commissioner. This will also strengthen the accountability of the police to the community they serve.

Honourable members, we will be engaging the municipalities for purposes of them assisting by providing office space and services for the Community Policing Forum wherein SAPS would install communication devices and the department would pay for the operational expenses, training and capacity building as well as stipend once policy is developed and funding secured from treasury.

In the near future we would want to see the offices of the CPFs operating for twenty four hours, same with the police and this cannot be realised unless we engage on a massive capacity building in order to ensure that they fully understand their roles and that the concept is well understood by the communities. We hope to finalise all these processes before the end of this financial year.

Since all of us have now recognised that the police service and government cannot fight crime alone, we therefore call upon stakeholders of our society such as religious faith organisation, youth and women movement, business and labour as well as the Moral Regeneration Movement, to mention but a few, to join hands in our struggle to mobilise all sectors of our population in the fight against crime and reclaim our streets, liberate our towns and villages from any form of criminality.

As part of the Africa Concept, of a people-centred and people driven policing, we have managed to successfully establish sector policing in all our 86 police stations, of which 47 of them are fully functional and the remaining stations would be fully operational before the end of this financial year. We want to see great improvement in the entire sector policing by using the model of the four best sector policing stations which are Ermelo, Embalenhle, Kwaggafontein and Nelspruit. We therefore call upon all civil society organisations to work very closely with our police stations, to improve visibility through sector policing.

Let us all embrace the concept of turning community in blue by swelling the ranks of the SAPS thereby becoming reservists. These reservists are key in enhancing our sector policing as well as increasing visibility because they will continuously conduct roadblocks, conduct raids and search, do patrols of our streets and any other function with a view of preventing crime from happening.

We need to acknowledge that we are faced with the most critical challenge of some contact crimes that are very difficult to police because of the complicated manner in which they occur. We however make a plea to all of our communities to work closely with the police and report all incidents of women and children abuse. We make this plea conscious of the reality that most perpetrators of assault and rape are mainly known to victims and are often relatives, friends and acquaintances hence they are difficult to police.

Clear signs are beginning to emerge that the communities have started to play a pivotal role in crime combating where for instance people have come up with various initiatives of taking control of their areas through volunteering, patrolling in shifts throughout the night.

In the context of this new approach, on social crime prevention, with more emphasis on preventing crime before it happens, and reflected in plans in terms of budget and resources allocations, the massive mobilisation of our people; increasing visibility of police service; community initiatives such as Vasvat in Nelspruit, community policing (emaphoyisa emmango) in various villages and townships; izinyokanyoka zase Fernie and many community initiatives, it become smaller and smaller. It gives me hope that we shall win this battle on war against crime.

Madam Speaker these good initiatives are highly welcomed but there is a strong need that they should be done within the law and under the guidance of the police, reservists and CPFs. The previous year in particular, we have witnessed the birth of the security volunteers that have immensely contributed to crime reduction in the Nelspruit city centre and our view is that this noble idea should be rolled out into the other priority stations or towns where crime in particular property crime is rife.

Honourable members, we need to encourage our communities to start doing it now. Fernie and Kwaggafontein have set a very good example of the policing model we need if we are to realise our dreams of turning Mpumalanga into a policing model for the country. Further, our research shows that the majority of crimes such as rape, assault, burglary, car-hijacking and many more take place during the night in or around taverns and shebeens. Our main concern in this regard is the legality as well as the operating hours of these businesses. There is an urgent need to consider regulating those taverns and shebeens operation hours.

For this reason, we would, through our cluster engage the Department of Economic Development and Planning and relevant institutions with a view to emphasise the need to consider putting certain conditions on the issuing of the licences and the operation hours.

In response to the looming spectre of crime within our schools where school yards are plagued by criminal activities such as rapes, drug dealing and substance abuse, we have piloted a learner cop concept in targeted schools in the Ehlanzeni region and we hope to cover the entire province before the end of this year. The Learner Cop concept is being used to, among other things, to encourage school children to consider taking up policing as a career.

As part of this concept, we installed Crime Information Boxes which will enable the school community to report criminal activities taking place, be it at the school or in their residences. We aim to be proactive thereby thinking ahead of the criminals and striking before they do. Madam Speaker our goal of turning Mpumalanga into a policing model for the country looms large. We must turn the community into blue.

Honourable members should be aware that one of the key objective of the Africa Concept is to turn the community of Mpumalanga into blue, we would ensure that our policing sectors are fully functional, our CPFs lives up to the expectations of the communities. This objective would be enhanced by the recruitment and deployment of additional 1 500 reservists into wards and sectors that are going to work in close collaboration with the police, CPFs and other community structures in the fight against crime.

During the past year, the SAPS, has successfully conducted a total of 166 600 preventative action, of which 69 180 arrests were effected, 1 416 for firearms, of the 3 221 vehicles stolen, 2 268 were recovered and 38 501 kilograms of dagga ceased. During the same year of the 316 escapes from custody, 111 were re-arrested.

Furthermore, as means of combating crime, we would target some major national and secondary routes where crimes such as carjacking, smuggling of illegal weapons and drugs, stolen or robbed vehicles is rife by deploying additional 44 high performance vehicles in order to continue and increase visibility and closing the space for criminals.

We want to send a clear message that attacks on police is totally unacceptable. We would not tolerate any loss of any police officer especially those killed in the line of duty. We would emphasise that they must use all means available at their disposal to defend themselves, the community and others against these criminals even if it means using force.

Madam speaker we must give life to the Operation Cyclone thereby establishing cluster tracing teams that would leave no stone unturned until those wanted criminals are put behind bars. This situation Madam Speaker, places upon us all a responsibility to move with a determined pace to begin to intensify our campaigns, educate our communities, instil the culture of ubuntu and mostly deal with the moral decay of our society. People must know that crime does not pay. Our message "Together Fighting Crime" must live to its objective and meaning.

Madam Speaker to give life to this theme, to effectively deal with the challenges posed by social contact crime, we would, through Izimbizo, mobilise our communities to give information to the police on criminal activities in order to close the space for criminals. The provincial Crime Prevention Framework as well as the Africa Concept, serves as policies where we derive our mandate as we strive to create a crime-free Mpumalanga. These policies encourage us to focus on our work in an integrated manner. We should be working very hard in the course of this year to resuscitate all our Multi Agency Mechanism structures. These structures are very key in the success of our fight against poverty because it enables us to plan properly.

We would, also, during the course of this year, come up with a programme to give effect to the resolutions of the Rural Safety Summit that was held the previous year, educate farming communities to treat each other as human beings, develop and inculcate the culture of tolerance and an acceptance of the rule of law thereby cautioning them to desist from ever taking the law into their own hands.

In the light of these anomalies, we would make all the necessary means available to ensure that we implement the resolutions of the Rural Safety Summit which include among others, development, human rights, educating rural communities on the functioning of the criminal justice system. Madam Speaker, in his state of the province address; 2007, the Honourable Premier said, "the coming year shall also see us expand our crime prevention strategies to municipalities as part of our plan to turn our localities and communities into safer environs for our 2010 visitors."

Our intention in this regard is to align municipal development strategies with a crime prevention framework that will mobilise all agencies and stakeholders within a common agenda to fight crime. Honourable Members, our major objective in that regard is to capacitate the local municipalities to deal with issues of crime directly where it happens. We have, as a matter of extreme urgency began with the process of assisting municipalities develop their own Municipal Safety Plans. Accordingly, these plans are aimed at aligning with the Civilian Secretariat, SAPS, Community Policing Forum as well as sector policing plans in order to share common experiences and thereby pull all the resources together.

As we prepare for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, we are charged with the enormous task of creating conditions that are conducive for the safety of the people of this province and visitors. Through consultation with other government departments, law enforcement agencies, our role players and stakeholders, we have been able to come up with the draft 2010 Safety Plan which we hope to drive and popularise among the people of this province and visitors as a plan that would guarantee their safety now, during the World Cup and beyond.

Honourable members should be aware that our province is a tourism hub and that tourism is the cornerstone of our Provincial Growth and Development Strategy. We must collectively safeguard this important element of our economy. This year and moving towards 2010, we would, with the support of the tourism industry, Tourism Safety monitors, co-operation with Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency and the Department of Economic Development and Planning strengthen our safety structures in the areas such as Graskop, Pilgrims Rest, God's Window, Kruger National Park and other tourist destinations in the province.

We also would like to commend the good work done by the Independent Complaints Directorate in mobilising communities to report bad conduct of some of our police officers despite the lack of capacity and the resources at their disposal. We also welcome the decision by the national Department of Safety and Security to build capacity within the Independent Complaints Directorate in order to meet its objectives of investigating complaints against death in detention or killing of people by police.

During our recent Imbizo held at Msogwaba Village, it became evident that our rural communities do not have access to information about the roles of various stakeholders within the Criminal Justice System. This remains a critical challenge and we shall do our best as a cluster to improve the level of understanding of the role and responsibilities of the CJS cluster.

Monitoring and evaluation

Madam Speaker, one of the mandates of the Civilian Secretariat is to monitor and evaluate the performance of the South African Police Service in order to identify weaknesses, build on their strengths, reward excellence and share the outcomes with them for remedial purposes and service delivery improvement. Three weeks ago, we have awarded trophies to different categories or units as a token of appreciation for excellence.

Of course there are other structures that are responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the work of the SAPS that must come together and improve our monitoring tool which would cover broad issues that would enhance the performance of the police stations. It is our considered view that, with the current resources, the department cannot afford successfully to motivate the stations to perform excellently hence we would engage the business people to lobby them to come to the picture, sponsor these ceremonies and also consider adopting some of our police station.

Madam Speaker, when we look at the current structure and financial resources of our department against the challenges posed by crime and this new approach that I have alluded to, it is clear that with the existing workforce, we would find it very difficult to meet these challenges. Therefore, in view of these challenges posed by the new approach on crime prevention, we have taken an informed decision that we must review our organisational structure.

Administration and financial management

One of our "Big five" flagship projects as announced by the Premier during his State of the Province Address is "the acceleration of management capacity building to attain efficiency and excellence in delivering the vision for a better life across our administration." This flagship will assist officials in the department to build and enhance their individual capacity in the context of the outcome of the skills audit to our senior and middle managers. As part of our strategy to build capacity we have, out of a target of 3 664 police officers, trained 3 633 police officers in different operational fields.

Madam Speaker, reports from the Disabled People of South Africa reflects that our department is unable to reach the two percent target set in terms of both the White Paper on Affirmative Action and the Employment Equity Act, 1998.This challenge can best be linked to the lack of capacity in the development of the Employment Equity Plan which must be used as one of the criteria for the employment of people with disabilities and giving preference to competent women. Our Human Resource Development section, as the custodian of development and empowerment, is currently not equal to its task. We hope to address this weakness during the course of this financial year.

Honourable members, we would, also, during the course of this year ensure that the Transversal unit of the department is well staffed, functional and empowered to effectively deal with transversal issues, which, includes people with disabilities, women empowerment, employee wellness programme, sexual harassment, counselling, activism on no violence against women and children and the issues of HIV and AIDS.

We would also, during the reorganisation process, come up with a transformation unit which would look at issues related to the transformation of the department as a whole. This unit will also work very closely with the unit in the SAPS that deals with transformation of SAPS.

Security Management

Madam Speaker, one of the challenges that we are faced with is the management of the security contracts. Honourable Members are aware of the importance of ensuring that government buildings, property and assets are protected and well looked after. As a lead department, we will come up with clear control measures; including Service Level Agreements which would ensure that government receives value for money as it relates to security of its buildings, property and assets.

In the process, whilst we are revisiting these contracts and Agreements, we would also present a memo to cabinet requesting approval for the declaration of the government complex including the legislature as a national Key Point. Honourable members, it therefore gives me great pleasure to request this august house to approve the budget of R44 510 million for the Department of Safety and Security for the financial year 2007/08.

We hope this budget will assist us accelerate our fight against crime in the province.

Programme 1: Administration: R26,502 million
Programme 2: Implementation: R14,508 million
Programme 3: Security Services: R3,500 million

Madam Speaker and honourable members, in concluding my address, let me return to our heartfelt statement we made in the beginning for the people of this province that:

"Our central task is to construct a people-centred society that will, in practice, demonstrate that it values every human being on an equal basis, determined that each should enjoy a life with dignity, regardless of social status."

During the course of this year, we shall be working very hard to mobilise all sectors of society behind our efforts to cultivate and strengthen relationships, with business and labour, religious faith based organisations, institution of traditional leaders as well as the masses of our people. We encourage communities to identify amongst themselves trustworthy and loyal members to be trained in basic policing as police reservists and security volunteers.

These reservists and volunteers working together under the leadership of police officers and Community Policing Forum respectively, will have to claim back our towns and villages, cities and townships as well as streets from criminals. We all have to say enough is enough, the minority cannot terrorise the majority forever, the time has come that we don't allow anyone to do crime.

We call upon our police officers to perform their work with due diligence, integrity, honesty and commitment. We say to all criminals out there, your days are numbered, the police will leave no stone unturned and they will use whatsoever means within their power to protect all our people even if it means using excessive force.

One old wise man once defined a pessimist as an optimist with experience. I think he was wrong! I believe pessimism is overrated. All those lights at the end of the tunnels, dawns after the darkest hours and silver linings in the clouds have been manipulated to look like really big deals, when they aren't. Hope and optimism are as deeply etched within each and every one of us like hunger and survival. As much as we may try, we can't get rid of them. There are hundreds of members of the SAPS who are champions of change fighting for the cause of those who can't do that themselves. I agree that it takes guts to take on a challenge like they do, and I wish there were many more of them.

Madam Speaker, Honourable Members, allow me to take this opportunity to request you all optimists and pessimists alike, to join me in thanking the South African Police Service under the leadership of the most progressive and visionary, Provincial Commissioner Africa Khumalo and his management team, Station Commissioners and all the women and men in blue for their tireless efforts to make South Africa a winning nation. Many thanks also go to our Provincial Community Policing Forum Board, all CPFs members, our reservists and the many volunteers who continue selflessly to support our programmes. We say to them continue with your good work.

Let me take this opportunity to thank the chair and the members of the Portfolio Committee for their diligent work on holding the department to account. This augurs well for good governance. My last thanks and appreciation goes to the Senior Management of the department for always striving to do better. Many thanks also go to the officials in the MEC's office who gave their time sometimes working till late in the evening especially in preparation for this budget.

In 1994, when the "Three Doctors" signed a pact, calling for co-operation among all democratic forces for the attainment of basic human rights and full citizenship for all South Africans. They believed that human life has equal worth because our rights as enshrines in our constitution are protected. I believe that we will continue to work together on our dreams of building a safer community that leaves out of fear.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety and Security, Mpumalanga Provincial Government
15 June 2007