On Tuesday, 31 October, Parliament will debate the scourge of crime and murder in South Africa, as requested by the DA.
The recent crime statistics have shown that all South Africans, irrespective of race or background, can become a target of violent crime. Every South African knows the feeling of fearing for their life and the lives of their loved ones.
Women and children are the most vulnerable, they are often the targets of horrific rapes and a shocking seven women and children are murdered every day.
In townships across South Africa crime has reached crisis levels as murder, rape and brutal attacks have become the order of the day.
Rural communities are also under siege. Farmers, farmworkers, and other rural residents live in constant fear, as numbers of people in rural communities being brutally murdered increase year on year.
Violent crime is not targeted at one specific group or groups. The 52 murders and 109 rapes that occur every day are crippling communities across the racial and socio-economic spectrum.
The scourge of violence in South Africa is a damning indictment on the ANC government.
Violent crime in South Africa has reached crisis point and sadly the South African Police Services (SAPS) seems to be losing the fight.
The time has come for Minister Fikile Mbalula to urgently reinstate the specialised units, which were successful at targeting specific crimes such as rural safety units, anti-drug and gang units. These were disabled with no effective alternative to replace them.
Enough is enough. We need to take our country back from the criminals that are crippling our society with fear.
No life has more value than another. Every life lost in these tragic crimes, is one life too many.
As the DA we are committed to seeing violent crime being rooted out of our communities. We stand with women, children, people in townships, rural communities and every South African who has been targeted by crime.