Police Minister Bheki Cele Continues to Congratulate SAPS for Job Well Done in Curbing Unrest
- Minister of Police Bheki Cele informed Members of Parliament that the police did a wonderful job in protecting property during the unrest
- Cele argued that the media did not show areas which the police worked hard to protect but only televised areas where there was trouble
- New Minister of Defence Thandie Modise said she cannot speak on the actions of the security cluster during the unrest as she had not yet been appointed
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JOHANNESBURG - While answering questions from members of Parliament about the events of looting and destruction of property in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July, Minister of Police Bheki Cele took the opportunity to thank the South African Police Service for doing their best to end the unrest.
"I want to stand here and thank the police for the beautiful, beautiful job they did," said Cele.
Source: UGC
Cele was responding to MPs who accused the police of not acting in time during the violent protest last month. Cele explained that the police did in fact act and the MPs were basing their assertions that the police did not act on media reports, according to News24.
Cele went on to says the media mainly reported where there was trouble but did not show areas that were protected by the police from damage by the protestors.
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"TV goes where there is trouble, they don't go where there is peace," said Cele.
Cele also informed MPs that as it stands, the police have arrested 16 people found to be instigators of the unrest, however, he did not clarify whether or not the arrested involved the 12 he mentioned in earlier reports.
New Minister of Defence Thandie Modise answers questions about intelligence reports during unrest
While Cele did not answer questions pertaining to intelligence reports supposedly given to the police ahead of the violent protests, the newly-appointed Minister of Defence Thandie Modise explained that since she was not appointed at the time of the unrest she cannot attest what actually happened.
She did however state that it was the responsibility of the security cluster to ensure that they are on top of their game.
According to iAfrica, Modise made no excuses for the events that transpired in the last month and apologised for the many lives that were lost during the unrest as well as the livelihoods of thousands of others.
Calls for Police Minister Bheki Cele's resignation: Crime statistics are abnormal
Briefly News previously reported that the Democratic Alliance (DA) is making a loud call for the dismissal of Minister of Police Bheki Cele on the heels of the announcement of the crime statistics covering the first quarter of 2021/22 on Friday.
Cele released the quarterly crime figures covering the period 1 April to 30 June this year, in Pretoria, SABC News reports. There were notable increases in violent and contact crimes, including house and business robberies and hijackings.
DA Member of Parliament (MP), Andrew Whitfield, said the latest crime stats show the South African Police Service (SAPS) is failing in its mandate to protect the country's citizens.
The South African reported that Whitfield refused to concede to Cele's point that the lockdown ensured the statistics would be higher.
Source: Briefly News
