This weekend DA spokesperson on safety and security Dianne Kohler Barnard challenged the newly appointed safety and security minister to deliver on the DA’s top ten crime-related issues.

The challenges are as follows:

• Fire National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi with immediate effect and replace him with someone with integrity and extensive law enforcement experience
• Reinstate the specialised units, which include the Narcotics Bureau and the Family Violence, Child Abuse and Sexual Offences Units and agree to retain the Scorpions in its current form
• Commit himself to revamping the detective service with high calibre officers and ensure that they have all the necessary vehicles, equipment and resources
• Develop a plan to eliminate shortages of vehicles, weapons and bulletproof vests at all police stations
• Require all police stations to be fully compliant with Domestic Violence legislation and regulations
• Address border control problems with a plan to seal our borders and enhance rural safety by allocating sufficient personnel, suitable vehicles, radios and other relevant equipment to border and rural areas
• Address the Forensic Science Laboratories problems by reducing the backlog of samples and improving efficiency
• Tackle violence in schools by ensuring that there is a dedicated schools liaison officer at every station who would be responsible for keeping the school safe
• Commit himself to improving the public's access to crime statistics. Local residents need, for example, to be able to access detailed recent crime statistics for their area from their local police station
• Commit himself to empowering the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) by allocating it more funds and personnel and ensuring that the SAPS follows all ICD recommendations and provide explanations when it does not

All these challenges seem to cover most areas of our safety and security cluster.

Now some of these challenges are pretty easy to enforce, for example the firing of Selebi. I can’t believe Selebi is still hanging around. It is like Robert Mc Bride all over again! Guilty or not guilty, he still has damaged the integrity and image of the SAPS, and we are now desperate for a leader that will steer this sinking ship into shallow waters to rebuild itself.

That is probably where I would begin if I were the new Minister. A new Minister, a new commissioner, a new SAPS – it all seems very positive!

Is there anything you would add to this list of challenges?