‘Police officers deserve better’ – DA launches #CeleMustGo campaign

The Democratic Alliance (DA) launched its #CeleMustGo campaign on Constitutional Hill yesterday, calling Minister of Police Bheki Cele’s head.

DA shadow minister of police Andrew Whitfield said nobody is lucky to be raped.

“Every time a woman, a child or a man is raped in our country we lose a part of our soul as a nation. Not a single South African of the 153 raped every day are ‘lucky’ and none of those that escape rape is ‘lucky’ to have even been in a situation where they could have been raped,” he said.

Whitfield said the words “lucky” and “raped” should never exist in the same sentence.

“The unimaginable trauma that those eight women who were gang-raped in Krugersdorp endured should give all of us sleepless nights,” he said.

Whitfield said the thousands of excellent police officers in the ranks deserved better than a minister who embarrassed them daily with his reckless comments.

DA MP Nazley Sharif said Cele’s remarks showed he was uncaring and insensitive.

“South Africa is the rape capital of the world. And we are the rape capital for a reason. Crime ravages our country. GBV [gender-based violence] and femicide ravage our country. We have to say enough is enough.”

Sharif said Cele recently insinuated people with tattoos were gangsters.

“Then you will be shocked to hear I am the godmother of the mafia with the number of tattoos I have. This shows how out of touch Cele is,” she said.

DA deputy federal chair Refiloe Nt’sekhe said people were becoming numb to GBV.

“Mr President, do you remember the story of the lady who said she was not raped with a condom but with a bread wrapper? This is what women face.

“[On] Wednesday, a five-year-old child who was trafficked was found lifeless with her vagina cut out,” she said. “Women are being raped, and when they go to the police, they have officers telling them to go home and fix it and ultimately dropping the case,” she added.

ALSO READ: Cele making light of GBV ‘appalling’, shows how far we still have to go

DA Gauteng community safety spokesperson Crezane Bosch said the minister had to admit he had failed the residents of Gauteng and the nation.

“In Gauteng alone, we have 143 police stations with a 16% vacancy rate looking after 15 million people. There are more than 1 200 vehicles out of service as some of these vehicles stood for more than 500 days,” she said.

Bosch said Ga-Rankuwa and Rietgat police stations had no electricity for more than a year and were dependent on generators. Ga-Rankuwa, Rietgat, Laudium and Atteridgeville were forced to close their gates at night when there was no power and they couldn’t serve the community.

“Crime does not happen during business hours only. Police stations must be open 24/7, 365 days a year,” she said.

Some police stations did not have functioning cells to hold detainees. Sophiatown, Pretoria Central, Jeppe and Silverton stations had structural damage.

“How can the communities trust the police if the minister swears at community members and tells us we should be lucky if we are raped once,” she said.

Criminologist Professor Witness Maluleke said the alleged crimes, irregularities and transgressions by the minister were denting the image of the police.

“His unconvincing public appearances validate that the DA call is not surprising at all costs. He qualifies to be blamed for the high crime rate. The way he portrays himself … leaves much to be desired; his political appointment is largely exposed, and he doesn’t understand the scope of policing in the country.”

Maluleke said Cele’s responses during high-profile criminal cases were flawed and rehearsed.

“His removal and a possible appointment of a well-grounded academic can restore the damages done by his lacking leadership style and enhance partnership policing for the betterment of adequate crime control and prevention strategies,” he said.