Cabinet condemns police spat

2012-05-04 16:06

Cape Town - Cabinet has condemned an ongoing public spat between senior police officers and urged them to stop, Performance Monitoring Minister Collins Chabane said on Friday.

"These public spats do not enhance government efforts to fight crime in the country," he told journalists, following Cabinet's regular fortnightly meeting.

"Cabinet further calls on the South African Police [Service] not to be distracted from fighting crime and [to] ensure law and order [are maintained] in the country."

Chabane said Cabinet expressed serious concern about the reported high-level cases of crime and police officers involved in wrongdoing. This was an affront to the confidence and trust people should have in the safety and security of the country.

Furthermore, Cabinet continued to particularly condemn the sexual violence perpetrated on women, teenagers, and young children.

Cabinet had set up a high-level ministerial team comprising the ministers of justice and constitutional development, police, communications, women, children and people with disabilities, home affairs, basic education, and health, to be convened by the ministry of social development.

This high-level team was tasked with devising both short and long-term measures to deal with the escalation of criminality in the country.

"Cabinet appeals to both local and international media to exercise greater sensitivity to the victims of violent crimes, particularly women and children, when reporting on this matter," Chabane said.

- SAPA