Speech by Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis

Assistant Chief Maxine Bezuidenhout

Alderman JP Smith

Exec Director Vincent Botto

To all the family and loved ones of our service staff, present and past

Invited guests

Ladies and gentlemen

Every day the courageous women and men of the City of Cape Town’s Metro Police Department, Law Enforcement, Traffic Services and Fire Services put on their uniforms and badges, and go out to protect us and our communities in every part of the city.

When they leave home they hope to return safely to their families and children.

But they also know that they will face danger in their work, and that sometimes their duty calls on them to place themselves in harm’s way.

Today we honour those selfless public servants and we express our profound gratitude to each one of them.

And today we pay solemn tribute to those who did not return from their shifts – those who gave their lives in service of the residents of Cape Town.

It is deeply significant for me to share these moments of remembrance with you to honour those who have given “the last full measure of devotion”.

Our uniformed officers in Cape Town demonstrate the best ethos of our city: service to others, duty to the city community, and courage in the face of danger.

I am proud to be associated with this team who set the standard in South Africa for professional, caring and reliable law enforcement and emergency response.

This team has built, expanded and improved over time, to the point where despite limited resources, it is now the most professional Safety and Security Directorates in the country.

While we recognise this success, we know there is much more still to be done.

Across South Africa we are seeing a rise in violence. This should rightly concern all of us, and spur us to action. We should also be concerned about the growing instability and distraction from a national political leadership that is simply not focused on crime fighting priorities.

The answer in Cape Town is for us to do even more to keep our residents safer.

We want every Capetonian, no matter where they live, to feel safer in our city. Safer from the tyranny of violent crime, safer from gangsters, dealers and thieves, safer from reckless drivers, and safer from disaster and fire.

We all want our children to grow up in safety, and our parents and loved ones to grow old with a sense of security.

And residents can feel safer in the knowledge that our government is making massive investments in supporting our uniformed officers to be more effective in their work.

We are investing in 230 new Officers, auxiliaries and Facility Protection Officers this year alone.

We are getting more cameras in the worst crime affected communities, we are getting our officers the best equipment and technology, new vehicles, better training, and better equipped command and control.

That is why our budget this year has invested R190 million in one year in new safety investments.

We are also doing more with communities to build neighbourhood watches. We are getting better equipment and training, spending R5.6 million on neighbourhood watches this year.

We will continue to argue for more equitable resources, so every Capetonian can take comfort in the fact that there are enough Officers to put criminals behind bars, with the necessary capacity to investigate so the justice system can secure meaningful convictions.

I wish to congratulate our exemplary Officers for the work they have done and are doing every day to get illegal guns off our streets. South Africa’s streets are awash in illegal weapons, but every single gun taken off the streets means lives saved.

And not only lives saved of community members, but also of fellow officers.

Cape Town’s officers take illegal weapons off the streets at the rate of nearly 1 every day.

That is thousands of lives saved, and is worthy of our celebration and gratitude.

To all of the family members of our Officers - I wish to share a special expression of gratitude to you who care for your partners and support them in their work in service of the City and fellow Capetonians.

You are their support system who keep them in your hearts and prayers, who think of them constantly while they’re out patrolling or attending to an emergency.

To all of our Officers here today and those on duty around our city - It is a privilege to have you as part of Team Cape Town.

We are driven by a sense of higher purpose in Cape Town. A purpose that is bigger than any one of us.

Our purpose is to show the rest of South Africa what can be done in our country. That we do not have to accept that nothing can go right in South Africa, because here we are showing what happens when a group of committed, passionate, patriotic people do their very best every day.

So let us make sure that what sets us apart is excellence.

A commitment to be the best.

So let’s be the most caring, the most professional, the most willing to go the extra mile.

Never willing to abuse power or seek personal gain.

When a resident calls, we answer.

When anyone needs help, we are there.

When there is a chance to be of service, we will be of service.

There is much more to be done – the task is not over.

Finally, to the families of those who do not come home at the end of their shift, we stretch out our arms of comfort and compassion to you.

And we pledge to never forget the brave women and men whose legacy is as simple and as awesome as this: a safer Cape Town for us all.

Thank you.

Source: City Of Cape Town