Police Minister Bheki Cele said there had been more than 300 arrests related to political killings – and many were serving hefty prison sentences.
This, he said, proved that SAPS was not complacent.
Cele on Monday pushed back against questions that the police were overwhelmed by crimes related to political killings.
In a special series, titled ‘Killing Councillors’, News24 reported that at least 19 councillors had been killed in KwaZulu-Natal since September.
In Nongoma, a KwaZulu-Natal municipality, almost all councillors, except for two, were in hiding, fearing for their lives.
A total of 150 councillors had been killed in KwaZulu-Natal since 2011.
Cele said the ANC took the matter of political killings seriously – and had created a special inter-ministerial committee in 2018 to deal with this type of crime.
“In 2018, the president went to Maritzburg when a member was killed. Councillors were dying every week there. The president went there and said not in my name. We formed the inter-ministerial committee in July 2018. Since that has been formed, 348 people have been arrested. There have been 52 councillors killed, and 32 are ANC councillors.
“Among those arrested, 18 are doing life, and 38 are doing between 10 and 73 years. This thing of saying nothing is happening there cannot be true when 348 people have been arrested. There is a response. Killings are still happening, but work is being done,” Cele said.
The minister was speaking at the ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) briefing in Boksburg. It is expected to conclude on Monday.
Cele also pushed back on accusations that SAPS was not doing enough to deal with the rising crime related to illegal mining and cash-in-transit heists.
The minister said prevented crimes received no attention from the media.
He accused the media of spotlighting crime, but not the outcomes of police work.
“We prevent a lot of these things and, unfortunately, that does not make the news once it has been prevented. I have a list of cash heists that have been prevented…” Cele said.
Cele appeared at the ANC briefing alongside the chairperson of the ANC’s peace and stability committee, Paulina Boshielo.
Both NEC members blamed communities for complaining about the presence of foreign nationals, but then also benefitting from their presence.
“They house them, and then they come and complain to us. Also, in terms of Home Affairs, we deal with marriages of convenience, so that they get citizenship. Also, the NGOs are always taking issues to court. [Home Affairs] Minister Aaron Motsoaledi is always going to court because of NGOs,” Boshielo said.
