A businessman intends offering President Jacob Zuma R1-billion to fight crime, the Sunday Independent reported.
”Crime is a major problem in this country. I am still prepared to help the government, but please don’t misunderstand my motives. I don’t want to take the glory. Our plans are to do all this in collaboration with the police,” Douw Steyn (56) was quoted as saying.
The Auto & General insurance founder said he had previously made the offer to former president Thabo Mbeki, who turned him down.
”Mbeki told me that I had got it wrong. He said: ‘We don’t have a problem with crime in this country. The problem is, we have a perception of crime’.
”Of course, I knew Thabo from years ago. But by the time he got to be president, he seemed to have lost complete touch with reality.”
Steyn had offered the R1-billion to fund his three-point plan that would involve ”a whole new approach to fighting crime”.
”We are talking about purchasing satellite equipment, computers and helicopters which would be on regular patrol and available to police forces all over this country.
”The intention is to give them high-tech facilities to combat crime, which they don’t really have at the moment.”
Steyn added that a special crime squad should be created and ”security guards should be given the right to shoot back”.
He said he had been motivated to donate the money after his sister emigrated after her ”bad experiences of crime”.
Mbeki’s spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga was quoted as saying that anything Mbeki said at the time was in his capacity as head-of-state. He could not comment on the proposal as he had not seen it.
Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said he was also not aware of the plan. – Sapa