Mbeki makes crime his first priority

President Thabo Mbeki put crime at the top of his priority list on Friday, announcing an overhaul of the South African Police Service and a range of other measures aimed at improving the criminal justice system. In his state of the nation address to a joint sitting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mbeki said one of his government's main tasks would be to transform South Africa into "a winning nation" with the opportunity of "a better life for all". But "the impermissible level of crime and violence" was standing in the way of a better South Africa, he said. The government alone could not stem the tide of crime, Mbeki said.What was needed was "a mobilisation of the whole nation into united people's action, into partnership with the government for progressive change and a better life for all".

Mbeki's plans include the recruitment of "new recruits with the requisite levels of education" into the police, and a new human resources strategy to "fast track" these recruits into management levels. He also announced that a new multi-departmental unit would be established to deal with all national priority crimes, including corruption in the police. Legislation against money-laundering was in the pipeline, as well as new laws to "deal mercilessly with all crimes involving guns, including the illegal possession of firearms, killing of police officers, corruption in the criminal justice system and intimidation of witnesses".

Another inititative is the establishment of "special commercial crime courts" to deal with white-collar crime. Mbeki committed his presidency to "honest, transparent and accountable government" and said he was "determined to act against anybody who transgresses these norms". He said the growth, employment and redistribution programme (Gear) and the reconstruction and development programme would remain the cornerstones of economic policy, and promised a range of measures to deal with unemployment.

Mbeki said the government would continue discussions with all role players about issues affecting the job market, including labour legislation, in an effort to create the best conditions fro job creation. The government would remain committed to fiscal discipline, and continue its programme of restructuring state assets, Mbeki said. To promote badly-needed foreign investment, an International Investment Council would be established which will include "some of the leading players in the global economy" to make South Africa an attractive destination for investors.

Internationally, South Africa intended taking a more active role in regional conflict resolution. "We cannot accept that war (and) violent conflict are a permanent condition of existence for us as Africans... We will therefore contribute whatever we can towards the resolution of conflicts on our continent." Mbeki said the government was "preoccupied" with the issue of gold sales by central banks and and promised to maintain contact with all role players in an attempt to minimise the impact of gold sales on the local economy.

Source: IoL