Editor – I would like to express my utter disgust at statements made by Clr Carlos da Rocha, of ward 66, in the January 14, 2014 edition of the EXPRESS where he made a sweeping statement that “the SAPS is useless”.
What an irresponsible thing to say as a public representative who is supposed to be a “leader”.
I find it disturbing because Clr Da Rocha attends crime forum meetings and CPF meetings where he can voice his dissatisfactions with the Jeppe SAPS management.
We sit in those meetings seeking to address issues affecting communities.
People often raise service delivery or council related-issues in crime forum meetings.
I refer those issues to him, or the relevant authorities or departments, and even report them through Joburg Connect.
No one has ever said “the council or councillor is useless”. We always use a multi-disciplinary approach in resolving the concerns of the communities rather than pointing fingers and rubbishing other role players. Clr Da Rocha has proven that he is not a leader.
A leader is someone who looks for, and finds, solutions.
There are many men and women in blue who are going the extra mile to diligently do their jobs within the Jeppe SAPS in particular.
There are some rotten apples within the service. That is not a secret. The SAPS management knows that and are doing something about it. Therefore, we cannot blame the entire SAPS and even refer to them as useless.
I not only find this statement disingenuous, but annoying and demoralising as well. I would like to commend Brigadier Govindsamy Mariemuthoo for not responding to negative statements like these because Clr Da Rocha was doing nothing else but “shooting from the hip”. One last piece of advice for Clr Da Rocha, if you live in a glass house, do not throw stones.
Zola Dambula,
Chairperson,
Sector 1 Crime Forum.
Editor’s comment – The EXPRESS forwarded this letter to Clr Carlos da Rocha. He commented as follows:
“After reading the letter, one cannot really add much more to it. Mr Dumbula has a right to his opinion as I have a right to mine. The only difference is that I have an opinion based on history and facts. I express my opinion by what my residents tell me and by personal experiences.”
