QUOTE
Presidential hopeful Tokyo Sexwale launched a double-barrelled attack on the government yesterday, blasting its record on crime and saying it had let people die while it quibbled about the causes of Aids.
In a hard-hitting speech at the Cape Town Press Club yesterday, Sexwale appeared to refer to national police commissioner Jackie Selebi when he said that high-level police corruption was eating away at police morale.
“Let me tell you, nothing is as dangerous in crime fighting as dealing with rotten policemen. A rotten cop, an officer, a leader — once they are rotten you have destroyed the will of the people who serve under them to fight.
“Nothing is more dangerous to all of us than being protected by a rotten policeman,” he said.
Sexwale did not name Selebi, who has remained in his job despite widespread allegations that he consorts with known criminals, and despite attempts by suspended Scorpions boss Vusi Pikoli to have him arrested on charges of racketeering and defeating the ends of justice.
Sexwale demanded tougher action against criminals.
“Leave this word ‘crime’ — we’re talking about people raping, cutting genitals, slitting throats, abusing small children, killing them. We’re talking about scum here.
“Punishment must be punishment.”
Sexwale said escapes, short sentences and early releases chipped away at the will of the underpaid police, who risked their lives to put people in jail.
“Crime fighting must be about the penalty. If you wrong society, you must be punished. It’s not for us to turn our prisons into nice places where these people are appearing on television showing us all sorts of things — punishment is the key thing. You are sentenced by the courts to be punished,” he said.
Sexwale was also highly critical of President Thabo Mbeki’s record on Aids.
In an obvious reference to Mbeki’s doubts about the link between HIV and Aids, he said: “HIV causes Aids. So, what’s difficult — which tyrant will stop me from saying that?”
Mbeki wrote to world leaders questioning the scientific evidence that there was a causal link between HIV and Aids. He argued in parliament that a virus such as HIV could not cause a syndrome such as Aids.
South Africa stalled on the initial delivery of life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs while the health department reviewed the international scientific data and advised patients that anti- retrovirals were toxic.
“We wasted time in debating the causality of Aids in this country. People were dying.
“When there is a fire, you don’t discuss the theory of combustion; you pick up a bucketful of water and you fight the fire,” he said.
Sexwale insisted that he was not yet a candidate to succeed Mbeki as president of the African National Congress, but he said he was being lobbied to agree to being nominated by many influential people.
He said the ANC should revise its succession rules so that candidates could be identified and interrogated about their policies. It was important to protect the space for democracy that had been created by the current leadership contest, he said.
In a hard-hitting speech at the Cape Town Press Club yesterday, Sexwale appeared to refer to national police commissioner Jackie Selebi when he said that high-level police corruption was eating away at police morale.
“Let me tell you, nothing is as dangerous in crime fighting as dealing with rotten policemen. A rotten cop, an officer, a leader — once they are rotten you have destroyed the will of the people who serve under them to fight.
“Nothing is more dangerous to all of us than being protected by a rotten policeman,” he said.
Sexwale did not name Selebi, who has remained in his job despite widespread allegations that he consorts with known criminals, and despite attempts by suspended Scorpions boss Vusi Pikoli to have him arrested on charges of racketeering and defeating the ends of justice.
Sexwale demanded tougher action against criminals.
“Leave this word ‘crime’ — we’re talking about people raping, cutting genitals, slitting throats, abusing small children, killing them. We’re talking about scum here.
“Punishment must be punishment.”
Sexwale said escapes, short sentences and early releases chipped away at the will of the underpaid police, who risked their lives to put people in jail.
“Crime fighting must be about the penalty. If you wrong society, you must be punished. It’s not for us to turn our prisons into nice places where these people are appearing on television showing us all sorts of things — punishment is the key thing. You are sentenced by the courts to be punished,” he said.
Sexwale was also highly critical of President Thabo Mbeki’s record on Aids.
In an obvious reference to Mbeki’s doubts about the link between HIV and Aids, he said: “HIV causes Aids. So, what’s difficult — which tyrant will stop me from saying that?”
Mbeki wrote to world leaders questioning the scientific evidence that there was a causal link between HIV and Aids. He argued in parliament that a virus such as HIV could not cause a syndrome such as Aids.
South Africa stalled on the initial delivery of life-prolonging anti-retroviral drugs while the health department reviewed the international scientific data and advised patients that anti- retrovirals were toxic.
“We wasted time in debating the causality of Aids in this country. People were dying.
“When there is a fire, you don’t discuss the theory of combustion; you pick up a bucketful of water and you fight the fire,” he said.
Sexwale insisted that he was not yet a candidate to succeed Mbeki as president of the African National Congress, but he said he was being lobbied to agree to being nominated by many influential people.
He said the ANC should revise its succession rules so that candidates could be identified and interrogated about their policies. It was important to protect the space for democracy that had been created by the current leadership contest, he said.
What do you guys think about this? I am obviously not in SA, and haven't been for a while so anything I can see must be vastly different to what you are all experiencing at home. BUUUUT this dude speaks a shit load of sense, Im not aware of his history, maybe its dodgy as hell, but this speak makes me go SHIT YES.
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