"Local authorities also need to be doing far more to reign in excessive surveillance in their areas and ensuring resources are not being diverted from more effective alternatives".
Further, the ways in which scarce police resources are diverted from more important enforcement functions, such as those involving murder, armed robbery, and gun violence, should also be examined.
And capital has been diverted from more productive uses, such as financing smaller black entrepreneurs.A year ago, Mr Mbeki told parliament that South Africa was "a country of two nations".
Some police officers in this state say the pressure for stepped-up enforcement from the animal rights lobby has become so intense that resources are being diverted from more serious crimes, like drunken driving and amphetamine abuse.
Wrapping things up quickly would also prevent media attention being diverted from more wholesome events including the Year of Faith beginning on 11 October, and celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the gathering supposed to mark the spiritual renewal of the Catholic Church.
If not, as I believe to be the case, talented young people are diverted from more worthwhile pursuits, which undermines national prosperity.
In 1857, James Buchanan berated abolitionists for making such a fuss about slavery: "Most happy will it be for the country when the public mind shall be diverted from this question to others of more pressing and practical importance".
Vaccine delivery and health worker shortages are major obstacles for some developing countries, although Gates said he didn't believe more money should be diverted from the cost of vaccines to meet costs for infrastructure.
