Quiz - who said this ?

[xtermin8or]

We are the first Government that has seen crime fall during its term of office. But, unsurprisingly, given the publicity, no-one would believe it. The truth is, there have been improvements, there has been progress, but the gap between what the public expects and what the public sees is still there

To help the statement was made this year - but who would say something like this

 

[dabouncer]

Tony Blair

 

[xtermin8or]

well done the complete speech

Future of Our Nation

 

[Syndyre]

Tony Blair, as said above.
Link:
http://www.moneyweb.co.za/economy/political_economy/281057.htm

I assume you have a reason for bringing it up?

 

[xtermin8or]

Community participation crucial in the fight against crime

Many governments in the world are reviewing their strategies and tactics to deal with crime. The law enforcement agencies of the world are working in a more coordinated and collaborative system, while their governments enter into cooperation agreements on issues affecting the criminal justice system.

It makes sense to work in this way given that crime has been globalised. To fight the scourge in every corner where the criminals operate, it is necessary to unite all law abiding citizens and their governments in the fight against crime.

British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, in a speech delivered on June 23, 2006, on the criminal justice reform in his country, said among other things:

"We are the first post-war British Government that has seen crime fall during its term of office. But, unsurprisingly, given the publicity, no-one would believe it. The truth is, there have been improvements, there has been progress, but the gap between what the public expects and what the public sees is still there."

This is also the story of South Africa. It is true, for instance, that crime levels are going down in South Africa. Of course, we need a consistent input from our communities in the fight against crime in order to drastically reduce those levels.

The African National Congress indicated, from the time of its unbanning in 1990, that freedom would reduce political tension in the country and political violence would vanish when our democracy took root.

It is true that there are, now and again, flashes of political violence in South Africa, especially during elections. That violence, though, is not at the scale of the political violence of the mid-80s and mid-90s.

Another aspect of Blair's speech that resonates with our situation is when he said:

"I have come to the conclusion that part of the problem in this whole area has been the absence of a proper, considered intellectual and political debate about the nature of liberty in the modern world."

Our liberation, as the case has been in other parts of the world, created spaces that have been exploited by wrongdoers. Among others, there is freedom of movement that has allowed criminals to travel freely across our country, from South Africa itself and from other countries as well. They commit crimes across our provinces.

It is necessary to note, when discussing serious and violent crimes, that the firearms market has become quite big and extensive. There are more outlets in the world than ever before that sell guns. South Africa has its own share of the gun market.

Firearms have become the favourite weapon of choice in serious and violent crimes and account for most murders worldwide.

The project to curb the proliferation of illegal firearms in South Africa is frustrated by the fact that many legal owners lose their firearms on a daily basis. It should be understood that what is today an illegal firearm was once legal. It was legally manufactured, legally registered and legally owned.

The South African Police Service annual report for the last financial year
(2005/06) indicates that there was a total of 14 842 legal guns that legal owners lost or were stolen from them. It goes without saying that those firearms became part of the illegal pool of guns that criminals use in organised, aggravated robberies and other serious and violent crimes.

For purposes of this article, I want to take up the aspect of the ANC's vision for policing that sought to centralise the communities in the fight against crime. The elements of that vision with respect to the communities were spelt out as follows:

"Community policing is not 'soft' policing. Community policing has now been recognized as more effective because it understands that it is not the police alone who combat and prevent crime. It is the community who are largely responsible for criminal prosecutions. They lay charges, make statements, testify in court, and assist the police in the performance of their functions. Without this cooperation no police force can discharge its duties."

We went on to say as we were spelling out the new vision that "there must be increased local community influence and control over policing priorities and practices (and) the relationship between the police and the policed should be one of reciprocal control."

To give effect to that principle, we argued for the establishment of Community Policing Forums (CPFs). We wanted the CPFs, as intermediaries between the people and the police to create conditions for the "real empowerment of communities to determine policing priorities and to assess police performance against verifiable standards".

We believed then, and still believe now, that crime prevention and combating is a joint project between the police and the people. There are many instances where this principle is understood, where the police are working side-by-side with the people as crime-fighters. But, we need more people to do this so that we can flush out of our areas the criminals that have been preying on our innocent people, especially vulnerable communities.

The vulnerable people include women and children. Many of them are victims of domestic violence. In the Financial Year 2004/05, there were 558 325 cases recorded with the police where women and children were victims of murder, attempted murder, rape, serious assault, indecent assault and common assault. That accounted for 58,5% of all people over those 12 months who were targets of contact crime.

What is of crucial importance to people who are law abiding citizens to note, is the high rate of crime among people who know one another in the social environment where they live. For instance, during the 2005/06 financial year, 81,5% of the 18 528 murders over those 12 months were committed by perpetrators who were known to the victim. So were the attempted murders (59,4%), rape (75,9%), serious assault (89,1%).

Many of those crimes were committed by people who were under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

In the communities where we live we know who sells the liquor and the drugs.
We know that those substances are sold to our children as well, who in turn, becomes addicted to them. And we keep quiet.

Let us revive all our old structures and deal with crime, together with the police, where we live. Let us design campaigns to deal with crime. Let us be members of, or give support to, the CPFs.

But, whatever we do, we must be part of crime-fighting in our country as people who love peace and stability and as law abiding citizens.

From Charles Nqakula - let aside any bias- he makes some good points here

 

[xtermin8or]

@ syndre, it seems the "perception of increasing crime" is a worldwide issue

 

[Debbie]

Funny thing, Telkom talks about "the perception of high prices" in the telecoms industry.

 

[Vrotappel]

Crime going down in South Africa? Maybe according to ANC stats, but unfortunately only on those stats. Ask the insurance companies.

Look at the rising levels of fraud. You can start in parliament (travelgate, oilgate, Telkom shares, etc.). Unfortunately this is only the tip of the Iceberg. It must also be kept in mind that many South Africans don’t even bother to report crime as they know that thanks to AA and Government Policy the police have become useless.

 

[Syndyre]

@ syndre, it seems the "perception of increasing crime" is a worldwide issue

True, the problem is with the way statistics have been manipulated here its hard to know what to believe anymore, Thus we're forced to rely on more anecdotal claims.

I can see with what he's saying, but don't agree with the part about firearms. A lot of cash in transit heists etc. these days are being committed with assault rifles. These are either presumably being stolen from the govt/police/army or brought in across the border. Unfortunately most of Africa is awash with guns and with SA's porous borders I don't think we can avoid them coming in.

Now let's see some action to actually put policies in place.

 

[Creed]

Another Charles Nqakula speech made headlines around the world and I believe him to be an incometent, perhaps he simply lacks the capacity to do his job.After he said "Stop whinging about crime or leave the country" I doubt that my opinion will ever change.

He showed us his true colors that day and no carefully written speech will make me forget what he truly is, someone who encourages whites to leave and someone who cares more about politics than doing his job.No wonder the ANC made him a minister.