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BUDGET 2017: Executive protecting itself at expense of the vulnerable‚ says DA

The Democratic Alliance on Wednesday accused the country’s executive of being more concerned about its own protection than about victims of crime.

DA spokesman on police matters Zakhele Mbhele said the increase in VIP protection services of R 131.8 million announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his Budget speech would have been better spent on fighting crime.

“The DA firmly believes that this expenditure is wrongly prioritised and should instead have been directed to vital crime fighting efforts‚ such as much needed specialised units.

“Increasingly the ANC-led Executive are focusing on themselves‚ at the expense of the most vulnerable in society. This is evident in this budgetary increase‚ protection of the Executive instead of the ordinary South African from crime‚” Mbhele said.

He noted that Wednesday’s release of the quarterly crime statistics showed that there had been 116 more murders between the first half of 2015/16 and 2016/17‚ with an alarming 14‚113 more drug-related crimes‚ 1‚053 more car hijackings and 691 more stock theft cases in the same period.

“Today’s budget showed us that the ANC-led government does not care about stopping crime in our communities‚” he added.