PHOTO: PHIWOKUHLE MOTHEMELA
The Portfolio Committee on Police has promised to hold Minster Senzo Mchunu accountable for promises he made during a recent visit to Nelson Mandela Bay.
In a reply to a letter by DA Eastern Cape chairperson Yusuf Cassim, the chairperson of the committee, Ian Cameron, said he shares the party's concerns about the escalating level of crime in the Bay, particularly in the Northern Areas.
"During his recent community engagement in the metro, Mchunu promised to deploy more boots on the ground and crime-fighting experts to Nelson Mandela Bay," Cassim said in a statement.
"However, grand crime-fighting commitments have been made in the past that were either not the correct interventions, or not properly implemented.
"The Minister announced that an additional 301 police officers had already been deployed to Nelson Mandela Bay.
"However, this is not an intervention, as it forms part of the SAPS annual deployment of 10 000 recruits across the country, and is the number of officers already allocated to NMB."
Cassim said the minister's plan to rope in 300 additional safety and security officers from the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality and the EC Department of Community Safety had also "gone up in smoke, as I received confirmation from the EC Community Safety MEC, Xolile Nqatha, that there is no money available in Nelson Mandela Bay, or the provincial Department of Community Safety to facilitate the deployment of additional officers".
"The commitments made by the Minister raise more questions than answers, and Parliament must now step in and fulfil its oversight role," he said.
Meanwhile, in his letter to Cassim, Cameron confirmed that the ongoing violence in the Eastern Cape was "firmly on the committee's agenda," adding it would be prioritised.
Cameron also said the province had been earmarked for an urgent oversight visit.
