The Democratic Alliance (DA) has slammed Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia's promise of a "policing reset," arguing that South Africa cannot claim to be reforming its criminal justice system while a crippling forensic DNA backlog continues to deny justice to victims of rape, murder, and other violent crimes.
At the Police MINMEC meeting on Saturday, July 25, Cachalia presented the government's National Reset Agenda for Policing and stated that policing had progressed "from reform to implementation."
Through intelligence-led policing, anti-corruption initiatives, focused interventions at 140 high-crime police stations, bolstering detective services, and stepping up the battle against femicide and gender-based violence, the plan aims to restore professionalism and public trust in SAPS. Cachalia also announced the appointment of four provincial police commissioners and the recruitment of 5,500 new constables under Project 11 000.
However, DA Deputy Spokesperson on Police Ian Cameron said the minister's address failed to confront what he described as the single biggest crisis facing South Africa's criminal justice system.
"This morning, the acting minister of police briefed South Africans after the recent MINMEC meeting. There was plenty of talk about reform, implementation, and restoring public confidence. All issues the SAPS is desperately in need of.
