Newly appointed Minister of Safety and Security Nathi Mthethwa has declared bosses of organised crime and corrupt police officers to be his priorities as he takes on the "very high" crime rate in South Africa.
Acknowledging that the level of crime in South Africa was unacceptably high, Mthethwa said the fight would not be won if corrupt police officers were not removed from the police force.
"We know that some police officers are colluding with gangs. That is very bad because it means that criminals are not being arrested. We will deal with corrupt police officers very harshly," Mthethwa vowed in his first interview since taking office.
Organised crime, such as ATM bombings and cash-in-transit heists, were also on his list. He believed that South Africa had not done much to fight organised crime.
"We have a lot of ATM bombings and cash-in-transit heists and people just get away with it. The way they commit these crimes shows that they are properly organised and the networks need to be crushed," he said.
The new minister feels that police have failed to deal adequately with petty crime.
"We have also neglected petty crime. Petty crime is so bad that many people do not report it any more," he said.
The high rate of white-collar crime also posed huge threats to the stability of the country, he said.
His frank admission that crime was very high marked a departure from former president Thabo Mbeki's administration, which focused on playing it down and on incremental improvements.
Mthethwa's predecessor, Charles Nqakula, now minister of defence, said at one stage that crime whingers should leave the country.
"It is not right to deny that crime exists. People who complain about crime are not mad. Crime affects everybody across the racial divide.
"We need to make sure that criminals are not welcome in this country because they violate the rights of law-abiding citizens. We need to make sure that criminals are dealt with accordingly," said Mthethwa.
However, he said perceptions that crime was out of control were incorrect.
Another challenge facing the new minister is policemen being killed. According to police reports, 107 officers were murdered between April last year and March this year.
"It is easy to kill police officers in this country. We need to protect these people who protect our people," said Mthethwa.
The issue of police killings is so serious that safety and security deputy minister Susan Shabangu has on several occasions urged the police to shoot to kill to protect communities and themselves.
Mthethwa also faces the mammoth task of planning to ensure that visitors are protected during the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Turning to what he described as petty politicking over crime, he said: "We need to be united against crime and politicians must not use this issue for scoring points."
The DA said the new minister needed to deliver on his responsibilities and accept that crime was one of the most pressing issues for all South Africans.
"He should not, like his predecessor, state that whingers should leave the country, but should instead keep South Africans properly informed about what he is doing to make South Africa a safer place," said the DA's Dianne Kohler Barnard.
She urged Mthethwa to fire national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi and replace him with someone with integrity and extensive law enforcement experience.
"Mthethwa must also reinstate the specialised units, which include the narcotics bureau and the family violence, child abuse and sexual offences units and agree to retain the Scorpions in its current form," she said.
She said Mthethwa needed to commit himself to revamping the detective service and ensure that it had all the necessary vehicles, equipment and resources.
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