The police minister recently said the province has the most policing resources in the country.

Recently, the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele made the claim that the Western Cape is the province with the most policing resources in the country. Since this statement was made, the Western Cape Government has been furious and disputed the statement.

While speaking at a police imbizo in Mitchells Plain, Cele criticised the Western Cape, saying the province continued to receive the most policing resources and funding. He mentioned that the province has the “lion’s share” of the country’s policing resources readily available.

In reaction to the claims, which Cele made during an address in Mitchells Plain, the DA’s Alan Winde and MEC for Community Safety, Albert Fritz, released a joint statement. Winde said that the statements made by Cele are so misleading that they had no choice but to set the record straight.

“We call on the Minister of Police to do the right thing and to correct his statement. He should use this correction to instead commit to providing more policing resources to the SAPS in the Western Cape, especially to the crime hotspots in our poorest communities,” Winde said.

Winde also used the chance to push the DA’s bid to devolve the police. The party wants to distribute the policing resources they do have in such a way that they are closer to the people.

“We stand ready to do so. SAPS officers are not being deployed on an equitable basis throughout the province,” he mentioned.

Winde explained that if one used a 1 to 225 police-to-population ratio to determine appropriate resourcing as a goal, the province’s poorest communities are currently under-supported by the Police.

The statement went on to accuse Cele of only making these statements as part of his party’s election campaigning.

“Statements such as these, which can only be explained by last-minute electioneering, only distract from the very serious under-resourcing issues that many areas in the province face. If the Minister of Police will not acknowledge them, we can only assume he is not planning to address them. This is concerning and must be rectified through a correction,” the premier said.