The Democratic Alliance (DA) notes Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia’s explicit commitment in Parliament that the long-delayed crime statistics will be released on Friday, 28 November, and that is exactly what we expect. After months of silence, confusion, and contradictory explanations, there is no room left for another postponement.
With 16 Days of Activism beginning on 25 November, the DA repeats our demand that these figures must, without fail, include the full set of gender-based violence (GBV) and child crime statistics that SAPS has withheld for more than a year. The country is entering a period dedicated to confronting violence against women and children, yet the very data needed to expose the scale of the crisis remains hidden.
The DA also expects to receive the crime statistics through our pending PAIA request on 27 November. Should Cachalia fail to table the full stats publicly the following day, as he promised, the DA will release the information ourselves.