Safety and security weighs heavily on the hearts and minds of KwaZulu-Natal’s (KZN) citizens as crime escalates, fear permeates our streets and daily reports of violence continue. KZN faces a unique and complex set of challenges when it comes to crime including high levels of inequality, corruption, unemployment, and historical trauma. It also has a difficult crime landscape, with urban, peri-urban, and rural areas all facing different issues – from political violence and assassinations to gang-related activity, drug abuse, taxi violence, and Gender-Based Violence (GBV).
While KZN’s Department of Community Safety and Liaison’s (DCSL) 2025/26 allocation sees an increase – from R243million to R275million – throwing more money at a problem does not mean it will be solved. Instead, a challenge of this magnitude demands a cohesive plan, involving all stakeholders, to ensure the budget is used effectively.
The DA acknowledges that this extra funding will support community safety structures, an electronic complaints management system, GBV activists, and the placement of 46 law graduates in police stations. However, we note with concern that the DCSL does not state how many GBV activists will continue this financial year in spite of an increase in performance targets – which includes the number of police stations assessed on compliance with the Domestic Violence Act. The CSL also does not give a clear and concise plan of action as to how these targets will be achieved.
The DA will also ensure oversight and accountability on the filling of DCSL vacant posts. These posts must not be filled in a political manner but rather on merit as the current system only allows a pay-progression rather than a rank progression, which is allegedly ear-marked for politically connected SAPS members.
Reports once again indicate that priority crimes remain rampant and the public’s sense of safety is diminishing. This raises critical questions about the efficacy of KZN’s current anti-crime strategies and the management of allocated resources. The DA envisions a KZN where every citizen feels secure in their homes, on their streets, and in their communities. To achieve this, the R275m budget should be used to;
• Establish a Provincial Police Service – a dedicated force tailored to KZN’s unique challenges to ensure more localised and responsive policing
• Enhance Community Policing Forums (CPFs) to empower communities to take an active role in their safety through well-supported and effective CPFs
• Invest in Technology and Infrastructure so that modern tools such as CCTV surveillance, drones and facial recognition systems can bolster law enforcement capabilities
• Resources to support specialised police service units, focusing on areas such as cybercrime, anti-gang operations, and GBV. This would involve funding for specialised training, equipment, and operational expenses
• Measures to enhance oversight and accountability within the police service including establishing an independent provincial oversight body to monitor police activities and expenditures and;
• Foster collaboration between provincial, national, and local law enforcement agencies including joint operations, shared intelligence and coordinated responses to cross-border crimes
Currently, the DCSL budget goes towards reacting after a crime takes place. KZN’s residents deserve a well-equipped, professional SAPS yet the budget does not show any signs of investing in SAPS members. Nowhere in the budget and Annual Performance Plan (APP) is there any plan to professionalise and clean up SAPS. It is also no secret that there is a trust deficit between the public and the police, worsened by corruption and poor accountability. Funding towards an independent anti-corruption unit for SAPS would go a long way to restoring this trust.
Government has a terrible habit of doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Many offenders are young, unemployed, and stuck in cycles of poverty and violence. Government – and KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) – need to reinvest in youth programs, skills development, mentorships, after-school activities, and sports to keep our young people out of gangs. Early intervention is critical and school safety and mental health support programmes must be expanded. Crime is not just about bad people — it is often about desperation, exclusion and trauma.
The message during a Ntuzuma stakeholder session earlier this year was clear – KZN’s DCSL needs to increase its muscle in supporting community safety structures. High crime rates including violent crimes, theft and GBV are a daily reality for many KZN residents. It is the responsibility of KZN’s GPU to ensure that oversight inspections, workshops and symposiums equate to action on the ground. Unfortunately, this has not been the case in the past. As a result, KZN’s crime stats remain the highest in the country and will continue to escalate unless drastic measures are taken.
The DA is committed to making KZN safer for all its residents. By strengthening law enforcement, fostering community engagement, addressing socio-economic issues, combating GBV and leveraging technology, we can create a province where everyone feels safe and protected.
A centralised police force, under an incompetent central state that abuses the law enforcement apparatus for party political ends, has resulted in the progressive collapse of policing in KZN. To effectively deter crime, KZN’s police service must be de-centralised and local accountability ensured. This also means working with municipalities to tailor policies and policing plans more appropriate to specific needs, bringing security and safety closer to communities.
If KZN’s GPU wants to cut crime it can. With decisive action and clear direction, it can begin the process of renewing our province, but it will also take a whole of society approach. Crime undermines the quality of all our lives – and as with most failings in society it is the poor who suffer the most. Rising crime has left people across KZN feeling powerless and insecure while, in many places, residents fear that the police have become powerless too – remote and distant and unable to deal with the issues they face daily.
KZN’s residents deserve more than just promises, they deserve action. The DA is committed to working with all stakeholders to implement effective strategies that will lead to tangible improvements in safety and security. The challenges we face must not deter us – they must fuel our determination to create a province where safety is not a privilege but a right for all.