While Premier Lubabalo Oscar Mabuyane s state of the province address speech focused more on economic infrastructure development, using key sectors of the provincial economy in pursuit of economic growth, he also paid attention to the importance of social cohesion in the province s efforts to build a better province. Building the Eastern Cape we want also entails ensuring that our Province is characterized by social cohesion and safe communities. One of the few good things about the experience of Covid-19 has been the improvement in the levels of security due to the lockdowns, which necessitated more visibility of law enforcement agencies. The restrictions on the sale and distribution of alcohol saw a significant reduction in the crimes induced by the abuse of alcohol,” said Mabuyane.
He said statistics indicate an overall 13.3% decrease in the incidences of serious crime in the Eastern Cape in the past 12 months. Most noticeable decreases were in the following areas: illegal possession of firearms and ammunition by 19.1%, drug-related offences by 25.0%, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs by 58.0%, and sexual offences by 56.3%. However, non-residential burglaries increased by 5.2% while truck-hijacking depicted an increase of 46.8%,” said Mabuyane.
He said the Provincial Legislature passed the Eastern Cape Liquor Authority Act, No. 4 of 2018, for which the Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism, and the Eastern Cape Liquor Board has developed a phased implementation approachs. Mabuyane said the province has been responding to the parallel pandemic of gender-based violence and femicide (GBV/F).
Just as we are doing with Covid-19, we are determined to defeat this scourge too. Our interventions include availability of psychosocial support and Everyday Heroes at our GBV centres in the province. Furthermore, we are working in collaboration with the national Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, in the full implementation of all the pillars of the National Strategic Plan on GBV/F in the Province.
The South African Police Service is in the process of establishing a manual and semi- automated DNA processing system in the Eastern Cape. This will help with the speedy resolution of sexual offences,” said Mbauyane. He said, in fighting GBV in the province, the government welcomed the improvements in the turnaround time of the SAPS in investigating cases of GBV, the determination of the NPA to ensure that people accused of GBV crimes are charged and kept behind bars. We appreciate the speed in which the magistrates and our courts dealt with bail application of some of these accused. This shows that society is fighting GBV. Each Individual must play their part and report these crimes to SAPS. We have to do more in this regard,” said Mabuyane.
He congratulated Gen. Liziwe Ntshinga on the extension of her contract as the Eastern Cape Provincial Commissioner for the SAPS, saying he has no doubt that under her leadership the Province s men and women in blue will continue doing a sterling job. He said Covid-19 negatively affected sport, recreation, arts and culture and to mitigate this, government set aside a budget of R9 million to support 373 distressed artists. We also approved 46 projects for funding to the value of R2.1 million. In promoting our heritage, we will continue with our multilingual programme for the development of our languages, including the development of sign language,” said Mabuyane. He said the provincial government repatriated and reburied the mortal remains of struggle stalwart, Mr. Vuyisile Mini at his birthplace in Tsomo, launched the centenary of Raymond Mhlaba which will be officially closed on 26 February 2021. Mabuyane said more work needs to be done to improve the state of recreational facilities in the province using available resources such as MIG grants as seen with the construction of the state-of- the-art multipurpose centre in Ntabankulu. Completing the construction of the Mthatha stadium is both an economic and social imperative. In this regard we will continue to mobilise resources to support finalisation of the stadium,” said Mabuyane
