Leadership from the various political parties have indicated that the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens - better known as “AmaPanyaza” - are not enough to fight crime in the province.
The parties gathered on Friday in Sandton for IOL's elections panel discussions and engaged on issues which plague the country’s economic hub.
Speaking for ActionSA, the party’s national chairperson Michael Beaumont said the AmaPanyaza have not contribute anything in fighting come.
“I don’t see Amapanyaza doing anything to fight crime, maybe they do benefit the ANC, but province needs more than that, we need trained police officers so that we can ensure that those boots on the ground generate real law enforcement.
“We also look at the issues of prosecution, there are so many cases where arrests are being made but people don’t end up in prison because our prosecutorial services are fundamentally overwhelmed,” he said.
Beaumont added that sentencing laws also need to be changed, as some sentences are lenient towards offenders, hence the country has a big volume of recidivism.
“For violent offenders, life must mean life and we throw away the key,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, MMC for Transport in the City of Joburg and Patriotic Alliance (PA) member, Kenny Kunene said the current laws are not firm enough to fight crime.
“We must bring law and order, we must meet fire with fire,’’ he said.
Kunene, who is also PA’s deputy president and Gauteng premier candidate, blamed some of the criminal activities on foreign nationals, especially kidnapping.
“We need to establish task teams that will deal with these crimes, we need go to the hotspots, illegal buildings harbour drugs, human trafficking, stolen goods and we need to reclaim those buildings.”
Kunene also criticised the justice system and said laws have to be amended to have stringent sentencing.
Meanwhile, Democratic Alliance (DA)member, Refiloe Nt’sekhe said instead of getting AmaPanyaza, the Gauteng Premier could have looked at getting people who were already reservists at police stations and patrollers.
“At least these are people who are already experienced ... Also, we have emphasised the use of technology and have intelligence where you will know where are the hotspots,’’ she said.
Last year, on Youth Day, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi launched the Nasi Ispani initiative to fight against unemployment in the province.
He said they were tired of celebrating Youth Day with so many unemployed young people.
Over 6,000 have been deployed to monitor and protect townships, informal settlements and hostels, CBDs, and businesses.
IOL News