Road upgrading and building police stations prioritized…

Your duty is to defend the weak, MEC Cele tells police

Transport, Safety and Security Minister Bheki Cele has called upon his SAPS members to work for the protection of the weak as a matter of priority and principle.

Drawing on his personal experience of poor human relations and care in some police stations, Mr Cele used his encounters to educate his staff about the need to serve society with dedication and humility.

Mr Cele said that South Africa now has a government driven by the people and that those members of the police force who did not wish to accept this were welcome to leave the police force.

He said "Your duty is to defend the weakest. The elite can afford to pay protection fees and there are those who can only afford to buy bread."

Mr Cele regretted that it had to take his intervention to save a fifteen-year old girl from repeated rape and abduction as a result of some police officers at a station in the Province.

He recalled: "The police initially told the mother that they did not interfere with love relationships. That was statutory rape (when an adult goes to bed with a fifteen-year old). The child was found within an hour after I made a call to the Assistant Provincial Commissioner. But the worst thing was that the child had been raped throughout the night! I'd be happy to see the policeman who was indifferent to the mother's complaint fired!

Mr Cele explained: "Most of you are fathers and mothers. How do you sleep when your 15-year old is raped? That girl was raped on account of indifference. If it's a female: it's somebody's proud wife, daughter or mother - every woman you see. Don't allow them to be abused. I'm passionate about the so-called domestic violence. You are not negotiators. Your duty is to arrest the rapist, the abuser. Don't try to make them resolve the issue. Arrest the culprit!"

"Or better still, people get told to come back on Monday: no DNA, washed. IN the police force we don't have positions. We have responsibilities. Positions make people protect and defend them. Responsibility subjects you to serving - surrender yourself in the defence of someone," he added, referring to a case where police refused to work because there was no overtime payment.

The Minister said that it was common experience that once the community is cooperative, crime goes down and that it was up to police to improve their relationship with the people at grassroots level.

"Let them write: "Here lies the best police," he added as he recounted that nine policemen died within two months of his tenure as minister. "Nobody but ourselves can defend us. I'll keep shooting from the mouth until they stop shooting with the gun," he said.

Mr Cele pointed out: "I don't know why they have a problem with gun control in our country. When you give someone a gun you are putting somebody's life at the mercy of somebody's finger. How can you give a gun to someone who assaults others in the shebeen? It is better to use your fist, not a gun. How can you get a gun if you have assaulted others ten times? Now you will shoot. The nine policemen killed were shot with illegal firearms."

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