In his maiden state of the Province Address, the Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi took the podium on Monday evening and delivered his inaugural State of the Province Address, at the Johannesburg City Hall.
The Premier outlined ambitious plans on how to make the province a better place by giving pointers on how to tackle crime, one of the controversial issues faced by the province.
Four months into the position, the Premier is determined to reposition the province as they continue to adhere to the provincial growth and development strategy, ‘Growing Gauteng Together (GGT 2030). Early in her address, Lesufi said; “Today let’s openly admit, our province is home of heartless and merciless criminals. They do as they wish. If this situation is left unattended it will be the end of all of us.”
He further mentioned that, if he had a choice, he would not deliver this State of the Province Address (SOPA), as the people have lost confidence in what they say.
“They think we talk too much and do less. My preference would have been to take you to different sites in Gauteng to showcase the work we have done. Let me assure you, we will talk less and do more. We are getting Gauteng back to work.”
He said the issue of fighting crime should be the apex priority.“We should unleash all our resources at our disposal to tackle crime. To this end, we are increasing our budget for fighting crime from R750 million to multi-billion in the next three years.”
• “Starting from the 1st of April 2023, we will start to connect suburbs, townships, business districts, schools, and other public places with high-tech, face, and car recognition CCTVs.
• “We will arm our residents with e-Panic buttons that will be linked to our law enforcement agencies, CCTVs, and our new state-of-the-art Integrated Command Centre.
• “We will unveil two new helicopters at the beginning of the next financial year and add four additional helicopters within the 2023/2024 budget cycle. The private security industry has pledged to add theirs as well to the pool of helicopters that will patrol our skies.
• “To ensure that our police are not sacrificial lambs in the battles with criminals, we are at an advanced stage to procure 180 state-of-the-art drones that will infiltrate areas that are difficult to patrol and police. These drones are equipped with technology that can capture the direction of a bullet and where they come from.
• “We have procured 400 new police cars so that from the 1st of May, every ward in our communities will have a 24hr patrol car equipped with proper gadgets.
• 6000 young men and women have been recruited to monitor and police Gauteng 24/7, they will invade our streets from the 1st of May 2023.
• The almost 10000 private security companies have agreed to combine their resources with ours under a joint command structure so that we can fight crime together in our province.”He further acknowledged that to strengthen the fight against crime, three crucial areas need to be revamped.
• The registration of cars, because cars are a common denominator in violent crimes; either stolen or getaway vehicles.• Elimination of illegal guns and
• The need to migrate our Province to use less cash in business transactions.”
On the issue of number plates, Lesufi mentioned that there is a current number plate system that is running out of numerals and letters. We want to take advantage of this situation to introduce new, hard-to-copy, and tamper number plates.
“As we speak, we have issued the Government Gazette on the 17th of February 2023 for consultation and comments on new security features. This new system will also assist in managing the abuse of temporary number plates. We call upon SADC to create a new database of all vehicles within the region so that we can have a common verification platform.
“We have also issued strict instructions to our law enforcement agencies to pull off those who continue to drive cars without number plates or fraudulent temporary permits. The abuse of fake blue lights is on the increase. A special unit to eliminate this phenomenon is being assembled.”
The Premier said, “Those with illegal guns are now playing God. They decide who lives and who dies. Together with the private security industry, we have found a solution that will assist in tracking stolen guns and locating them wherever they are in our country. We will first migrate our law enforcement agencies’ guns into this system then the members of the public.
He ended by saying those who contribute to the desire to use less cash in business transactions in the province, urge all retailers and other businesses to join the hospitality industry in eliminating cash transactions.
“If we all do so, we will see fewer, business robberies, cash heists, and ATM bombings.”
By Simphiwe Nkosi
