Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi said crime was putting the province’s title as the economic hub of the country at risk.
The premier was speaking at Noordgesig Primary School in Soweto on Saturday, during a roundtable discussion on e-policing solutions and the use of smart technology to tackle crime in the province.
Lesufi said dealing with the problem of crime and corruption was not a luxury, but a necessity.
“If we can’t recruit the best minds to work in Gauteng because they are scared of crime, we must forget about this province being the economic hub of this country.”
“Every day in our townships every day in our communities someone is being killed. Everyone will migrate out of our province and by extension out of our country. We’ll lose good skills, lose job opportunities, and will lose everything we have in our province.”
[PICTURES]: Gauteng e-Policing Roundtable underway in Noordgesig Primary School. #ePolicingGPG #GrowingGautengTogether pic.twitter.com/jntwmCUaXt
— Gauteng Provincial Gov (@GautengProvince) February 18, 2023
Lesufi said the province would cut down on unnecessary expenditure in various departments to meet its goals in the fight against crime.
“We are cutting budget from all useless things. We are not going to have a budget where the Department of Sports and Culture says they want to spend this X-amount of money to teach people to be DJs. I must teach people to fight crime – not to be DJs,” said Lesufi.
Public-private partnerships could enhance crime prevention efforts, he added.
“We are entering a new phase to make Gauteng a safer place. We are entering a new phase of partnership with those that are at the coal [face] of fighting crime. Let’s combine our energies and make criminals a foreign thing in history in our province.”
-EWN
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