Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended Police Minister Bheki Cele saying the minister has not given up on fighting crime.
The DA has been calling for Cele to be fired from his role as crime continues unabated in the country.
During the parliamentary questions to the president, DA leader John Steenhuisen brought back Cele’s remarks made following the Krugersdorp rape incident.
In a recent interview, Cele said a 19-year-old woman raped among seven other women was “lucky, if it is luck” to have been raped by one man while others were raped by several men at a time.
“It’s clear from this comment that Mr Cele has himself given up and lost faith in his own ability to keep South Africans safe from rape, murder and other violent crimes,” said Steenhuisen to the president.
He added that statistics show that 67 people are murdered and 153 are raped every day in the country.
“South Africans are under daily attack from violent criminals, in their homes, in their workplaces, and on the streets. Your police minister by his own admission has given up on trying to protect them. Mr president the question to you today is if he has given up on his own ability and has no faith in his ability to keep our citizens safe, why do you have faith in him? Why have you not fired him?”
Ramaphosa disputed and disagreed with the opposition leader that the minister of police had given up on the fight against crime. “He is often on the forefront of ensuring that we do fight crime. You refer to the statement he made and I would like to suggest that it was clearly not his intention.”
Ramaphosa said the statement may have been lost in translation. “As far as his commitment, he was there. He was there sooner after it happened.” He added that Cele’s presence led to the arrest of suspects in the matter and that Cele must be given recognition for always attending crime scenes around the country.
The president also admitted that crime was a major issue in the country and they were addressing it.