Law & Order

The Crime Prevention and Justice Cluster of government departments is supposed to actively encourage a balance between crime prevention and law enforcement in a committed and sustained effort to achieve a safe and secure South Africa.

To this end, continuous investment in a more effective and accessible Criminal Justice System (CJS) must be matched with medium to long-term investment in initiatives that address the causes of crime.

The UCDP is committed to improving the efficiency of the CJS. Access to justice is essential to a safe society, and it is vital that society trusts the system to deliver justice to all.

Farm Killings

A UCDP government will deal ruthlessly with serious criminals such as those who perpetrate farm killings, rape and child abuse. The UCDP will ensure that the perpetrators of these heinous crimes are hunted down with vigour and dealt with to the maximum allowed by the country's laws.

Crime

Rampant crime is one of the reasons forwarded repeatedly for the reluctance on the part of international investors to invest in South Africa. A UCDP government will ensure that the police and other law enforcement agencies are adequately funded, staffed and resourced to reduce crime to internationally acceptable levels.

A UCDP-led government will ensure the safety and security of communities by putting in place, and managing in a responsible manner:

  • An accountable and well remunerated criminal justice system to wipe out crime and corruption;
  • Specialised units to deal with sophisticated crime such as organised crime and criminal gangs. These units will follow the team approach whereby police investigators work closely with public prosecutors to prepare cases;
  • Special courts dealing with sexual offences against women and children will be established countrywide. These courts will speed up the finalisation of such cases, provide a sensitive environment in which these cases are dealt with, and ensure that an intersectoral approach is adopted when dealing with sexual offence cases;
  • Improved service delivery including victim support and empowerment to ensure that victims of crime are treated with respect and dignity, are provided with information and the opportunity to testify without fear; and are protected from secondary and repeated victimisation;
  • More effective measures to prevent escapes from custody. The processing and reviewing of all awaiting-trial cases will be fast tracked;
  • The rehabilitation of inmates; and
  • Make available the services of chaplains to the police, staff of the prisons, and the inmates of the prisons.


Municipal Police Forces - Mobilising local crime prevention

The White Paper for Safety and Security - approved in 1998 - sets out the need for developmental and situational crime prevention based on risk factors, the close relationship between policing and social and situational crime prevention, and the need to actively involve local government and communities in crime prevention.

There is increasing acceptance that local government must play a leading role in developing local crime and violence prevention projects. These projects,where they exist, are fragmented and isolated.

A UCDP-led government will put in place policies which will:

  • Communicate the rationale of Community Police Forums (CPFs) to communities. There is currently a rather limited understanding of the nature and benefits of community-based crime prevention;
  • Give impetus to local prevention initiatives through the establishment of a funding mechanism whereby additional funds can be obtained to assist local authorities with the development of local crime prevention strategies and plans, and their implementation; and
  • Enable sustainable community-based crime prevention. To ensure sustainability in the long term, roles and responsibilities of stakeholders will be clearly defined.