Since his state-of-the-province address earlier this year, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi had made it clear that crime fighting and prevention was a priority for his government.
Justifiably so, Gauteng is one of the most dangerous places to live in in the world.
The multi-layered and interconnected nature of criminal activities that happen in this province has demanded a far more-efficient set of interventions on many fronts.
Oftentimes police appear too overwhelmed, both by the scale and complexity of criminal activities.
Therefore, Lesufi’s prioritisation of this crisis is welcome.
His latest intervention, the launch of thousands of crime-prevention wardens who were introduced to the public at the weekend, has become a matter of public debate.
The wardens are hired to address, among others, illegal land occupation and lawlessness, damage to state infrastructure and vandalism and gender-based violence.
They will be based in wards and will supplement the work of existing law-enforcement agencies.
A cursory reading of public sentiments suggests that the scepticism arises on mainly two concerns – the cost of the initiative and the skills level of the new recruits.
At R450m, we must rightfully question if the cost is prudent and viable, even as it includes high-end vehicles and other equipment as part of their arsenal.
Others have questioned whether the training said to have been offered to the wardens was sufficient and inspires confidence in their ability to fight thugs running amok in our communities.
Unfortunately, some of the officers appeared not equal to the task when compared, at face value, to similar anti-crime units elsewhere in the country.
While these sentiments are subjective, they are not unimportant.
They indicate a massive trust deficit between government and people, which is rooted in past experiences of corruption, maladministration and incompetence.
Simply put, we have seen many initiatives by government which were presented as interventions to address many of our social ills, only for them to become a looting frenzy by the well-connected, costing taxpayers heavily and delivering nothing.
There is no question about the need for all necessary interventions to fight crime.
But transparency and efficiency in the roll-out and management of this project is the only way for it to earn public trust.
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