At the beginning of this month, I gave a speech to the National Assembly concerning violent crime committed against women, children and farmers.
I mentioned ghastly statistics which should alert South Africans concerned with their safety, and the safety of their fellow countrymen.
In the 2017/2018 period; 2500 people were murdered in Cape Town, and 62 farmers were slain on their land. Due to the budgetary constraints placed on the South African Police Service, there could be a lot of violent crime which goes unreported.
Police do of course serve a necessary purpose, but it is of no use to continuously combat the symptoms as they worsen. One must seek the roots of the problem: widening inequality and abject poverty.
It has been GOOD’s view – from the outset – that violent crime must be legislated out of existence through the continued improvement of our social safety nets.
The upholding of welfare systems will hopefully prevent individuals from turning to crime as a means of eking out a living.
It is vital that we take back control of our lives and those of our loved ones. It is a job that requires all of our attention, whoever we are and wherever we live. The society that the overwhelming majority of us want is a society in which all feel free.
GOOD’s policies – which are intended to address the legacies of apartheid-era spatial planning, land ownership and housing – lend themselves to alleviating poverty and inequality; as well as the ills which come as a consequence.
It is important – especially in the aftermath of a pandemic which has wreaked economic havoc and caused mass retrenchments – that the South African government ensures economic welfare for its citizens.
As I said to the chairperson whilst addressing the National Assembly:
“In GOOD we work to achieve social, economic, environmental and spatial justice and among the sweetest fruits we will harvest is dramatically increased safety. As MPs, it is our task to progressively steer the nation to a place of dignity and safety for all”.
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