Durban — Several community policing forums – who are at the coal face of fighting crime – have complained about the slashing of the budget for the Community Safety and Liaison (CSL) department by a whopping R10 million.
Delivering the R243m budget for the CSL, Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli announced a R10m cut for a department crucial in crime-busting measures and ensuring the safety of communities.
Reacting to this, Themba Mshazi, who represents a policing forum in the crime-infested uMlazi, said he hoped the cut would not cripple the crime-fighting measures.
“With the high crime rate besetting areas such as uMlazi, I hope that the cut will not hamper the crime-fighting measures that we have. If anything, the community safety department is crucial and needs more budget to be able to effectively tackle crime,” said Mshazi.
Mshazi said he would study the budget further to ascertain how the budget cut would affect their operations.
“Crime fighting is a collective measure, and all hands must be on deck. We need every cent to curb the crime rate and ensure that townships such as uMlazi are safe,” said Mshazi.
UMlazi township is one of the most violent places in South Africa and had the most contact crimes between January and March 2024, with more than 860 reported incidents – with 58 reported murder cases during this period – according to crime statistics.
KZN police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi had also identified uMlazi as a crime hotspot.
In Inanda and KwaMashu, another crime-ridden hotspot, more than nine CPF members have been brazenly gunned down since April this year. Among them was Mzwandile Mbambo and Avela Nomphahla.
Community leader Musa Cele said: “I was surprised by the budget cut for such an important portfolio. As community forums, we will continue to fight crime. But we will engage with the premier who incorporated this department under his office.”
Citing the surging crime rate, Cele said: “We need every dime we can get as community forums. As things stand, we don’t have all the things we need to effectively fight crime. We need to know exactly how this cut will affect the community policing forums.”
Manser Akoo, chairperson of the Sydenham community policing forum (CPF), which also covers Clare Estate, Sherwood, Asherville and Reservoir Hills, also expressed his concerns over the cut.
“We had hoped that the premier would add instead of cutting. The community policing forum should be wellfunded to effectively prevent crime and protect the communities,” he said.
During his budget, Ntuli lauded CPFs and other community-initiated safety formations in the province, plagued by a surging crime rate.
Ntuli said a total of 106 capacity development interventions were made to improve the effectiveness of safety structures.
“At this stage, I would like to acknowledge some members of the crime-fighting structures who lost their lives in the line of crime fighting. Since the beginning of April 2024, we have lost more than nine members from the community safety structures, including Mbambo and Nomphahla, who were part of the neighbourhood watch.”
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