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- SAPU is calling on the SA Police Services to increase the budget for Community Policing Forums.
- This follows shocking crime stats on police killings.
- A total of 22 police officers had been killed between October and December.
The South African Policing Union (SAPU) wants the South African Police Services to increase the budget for Community Policing Forums (CPF).
According to the union, this will strengthen resources as there is a need to collaborate with all stakeholders in fighting crime.
This comes after Police Minister Bheki Cele released the third quarter crime statistics for the country on Friday.
Cele revealed that 22 police officers had been killed between October and December. Ten of them had been on duty, and 12 while off duty.
READ | Crime stats: More than 7 700 people murdered in just three months, says Cele
"These statistics prove a major cause for concern on the safety and security sector at large," SAPU spokesperson Lesiba Thobakgale said.
"It is beyond doubt that being a law enforcement officer in South Africa is extremely dangerous. Our members are not safe whether they are on or off duty, this is an indictment on the authorities to do more to curb the senseless and violent murder of law enforcement officers.
SAPU also raised concerns regarding the killings of security guards and CPF members.
"We know security guards are working hand in glove with the police, also perform duties of law and order, and it is clear that criminals are also attacking them."
Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said they were the ones who have long been calling for a budget increase in the SAPS so that they address the uneven allocation of resources at police stations across the country.
"This will assist in getting more boots on the ground and do away with the bloated upper structures wherein management fights over roles and responsibilities as opposed to effecting services," Mamabolo added.
Thobakgale said that they are calling on SAPS to increase the R70 million which is already allocated to the CPF in the next financial year.
Western Cape CPF chair Fransina Lukas said that they support the call to increase the budget, as the CPF plays a crucial role in the fight against crime.
"We do need more resources. If each of the 1 160 [police] stations could be fully capacitated in terms of resources, I think we would be able to turn the tide against crimes in our communities," added Lukas.
In December, crimefighter and deputy chairperson of the Gugulethu CPF, Lulama "Guffy" Dinginto was gunned down at her home.
READ | Gugulethu CPF leader laid to rest: Community activists 'vulnerable' as they stand up to crime
In November, former DA staff member and activist Justice Jama, 41, died in a hail of bullets inside his home in Greenfields in Kariega (formerly Uitenhage), in the Eastern Cape.
He had been a key witness to a murder committed in 2019 and was gunned down only three weeks before the case was to be finalised.
