“These robberies should be taken very seriously. They should be given a status of sabotage due to the important work that census does to improve how the state functions and plans.”
Those are strong words from Khayelitsha’s CPF Secretary, Phindile George, following the robbery of census personnel in Bongweni, on Wednesday 16 February. It is believed the team was robbed of their cellphones and laptops.
A census is an official survey of the country’s population to find out the number of people who live within its boarders. The count helps the government to determine ways to spend the money, while helping communities get their fair share for schools, hospitals, roads, and public works.
Census started on Wednesday 2 February.
George said the CPF condemns in the strongest possible terms the attack on census workers. He said the attack undermines governments’ effort to collect critical information regarding South African’s population growth, infrastructure, unemployment rate, literacy, and other social factors that inform service delivery.
He said the attack sought to derail government’s programme of action. “We have on our part raised the awareness of these types of crimes with the safety structures such as Neighbourhood Watch (NHW),” he said.
George said NHW should put their ears on the ground and keep an eye on such criminality to ensure Saps is made aware of perpetrators of these crimes against service delivery workers. He called on the public give police any leads to ensure these criminals are arrested.