S/Africans not safe, says party leader after Minister’s ordeal

By Mark Ogagan

In a swift reaction to Tuesday’s armed robbery attack on South Africa’s Transport Minister, ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba says South Africans were not safe if a minister in the company of bodyguards could be robbed in that manner.

“The robbery of Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga on Monday morning, where she was held at gunpoint while travelling on the N3 near Heidelberg, highlights how even official Blue Lights do not protect government officials amidst South Africa’s spiralling crime rate,” Mashaba said.

“What the minister experienced is the living reality of countless South Africans, reinforcing ActionSA’s belief that drastic action must be taken to turn the rise of lawlessness in South Africa around.”

He said the incident highlighted the failure by the ANC and Police Minister Bheki Cele to combat crime.

“ActionSA has already marched to the South African police headquarters in Pretoria in August where we handed over a memorandum to demands that the lack of police capacity across the country be addressed, but to date have received no response,” Mashaba said.

Speaking on the sidelines of the 10th National Popcru (Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union) Conference at the Durban ICC, Cele said crime affected everyone and that Chikunga was not the only minister or political leader to have suffered at the hands of criminals.

“We are thankful that nobody lost their lives as they were violent and took some money. My problem is that it looks like there was some form of information that they had. This shows that we are all victims of crime in this country. This means if you fight crime, you fight it for the betterment of South Africa,” Cele said.

Mashaba said ActionSA wanted the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to reinstate the Scorpions to help fight the scourge of crime that had taken over South Africa.

“We additionally believe that the Scorpions should be reinstated at the NPA to prosecute serious and complicated crimes, and where people committed serious crimes, parole should no longer be granted,” he said.