Political divisions exposed in Western Cape's fight against violent crime

A heated debate in the Western Cape Legislature this week laid bare deep political divisions over how to tackle the province’s violent crime crisis.

Opposition parties are accusing the Democratic Alliance (DA) of failing communities, while the governing party placed the blame squarely on national policing failures.

The debate was introduced by DA MPL Gillion Bosman, who warned that the province is facing "a crisis where dangerous criminals are released on parole and are back in our communities, while SAPS vacancies remain unfilled".

Bosman said the recent spate of shootings in Delft, Gugulethu, Muizenberg, and Eerste River, which claimed more than 30 lives in just weeks, showed how the justice and policing system is failing residents.

"Families are being torn apart because the system cannot keep violent offenders behind bars," he said.

Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais supported Bosman’s concerns, saying the province was being undermined by a national police service in decline.

"We continue to see fewer officers deployed, poor funding, and a broken intelligence capacity," Marais told the House. "While we are doing our best with the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan, we cannot replace the constitutional mandate of SAPS."

Premier Alan Winde called murders the "big elephant in the room" facing the province.

"South Africa records around 27,000 murders a year, and 4,500 of those are in our province," Winde said.

He noted that the Western Cape had 20,000 SAPS members six years ago, but now has only 12,900. "We cannot win this fight if the numbers keep going backwards. We need a new policing model, and that means devolving policing powers to the province."

Winde also called for stricter monitoring of parolees, saying: "Electronic tagging of violent offenders must be considered before they are released back into our communities."

The ANC's Benson Ngqentsu rejected the DA’s position, accusing it of exploiting gang violence for political mileage while ignoring poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

"The DA’s billion-rand safety plan has failed to reduce murders," ANC MPLs said. "Their camera network is a white elephant, with many not working. Instead of blaming SAPS, the province should acknowledge its own failures."

EFF MPL Aishah Cassiem went further, saying the DA’s safety strategy was "a total failure" since its launch in 2019.

"The murder rate has gone up, not down. The Safety Cooperation Agreement with the national government has delivered nothing tangible," she told the House.

Cassiem demanded that the province declare the crisis a disaster.

"The scale of the killings demands an extraordinary response; we cannot treat this as business as usual," she said.

GOOD Party MPL Brett Herron argued that the debate was being misdirected.

"The DA continues to mislead the public by pretending this is only about policing numbers," Herron said.

"Violent crime is not just about policing. If we do not tackle the conditions that feed gangsterism, poverty, inequality, and hopelessness, no number of additional officers will change the trajectory."

Meanwhile, the Cape Flats Safety Forum founder, Abie Isaacs, called for the resignation of Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile.

He said crime was spiralling out of control under his leadership.

"I want to dispel the myth that we only woke up this week and decided to call for his resignation. For us, it is purely because we know for a fact that crime is out of control, and there seems to be nothing done for the past year," Isaacs said.

He said residents feel "under siege" and argued that more people are dying on the Cape Flats than in some war zones.

"More people are dying on the Cape Flats currently than in the war that’s happening in Ukraine. Let’s make that comparison, not to sensationalise, but because we need to face the reality," he said.

Isaacs added that Patekile has failed to inspire confidence, even when questioned by the media.

"On Monday evening, when it was proved by questions from the media, it seemed like he was lost. Honestly, with all due respect to his rank and position, he could not answer directly. That gives us the impression that somehow this man has not touched base with reality," Isaacs said.

He pointed to KwaZulu-Natal as an example of active police leadership.

"You look at the case in KZN, the Provincial Commissioner is on the field day to day, out with the soldiers, leading from the front. And you can see that crime within KZN is starting to reduce. We need a person of that calibre, who will be able to drive the force," he said.

According to Isaacs, the Western Cape needs strong leadership against gangs, as in previous years.

"People will say we are playing people up against each other, but we need a person who will be able to deal with gangs. It was Major-General Jeremy Vearey and his team who dealt with the principal problem, and during that period, there was a massive reduction in gang-related crime."

He also raised concerns over the findings from the 2023 Commission of Inquiry into gang collusion with senior police management. 

"The premier responded to us, but he is sitting with the findings of Judge Thulare in 2023, which say gangs were colluding with senior management. That report is still on the table, and the community needs clarity on it," Isaacs said.

Turning to the debate over devolving policing powers to the City of Cape Town, Isaacs said the Safety Forum does not believe this would help.

"In terms of the volatile situation, specifically with guns and gangs, I don’t think it’s correct now to devolve the policing power. Purely because there is no political will to deal with this scourge on the Cape Flats." 

He argued that despite technology such as drones, the LEAP (Law Enforcement Advancement Plan) programme, and ShotSpotter gunshot detection, communities see little impact.

"In Mitchells Plain last week, 15 people were murdered. I haven’t seen a drone in the air. My kids would have told me if they had seen one. ShotSpotter tells you there were 15 shots fired, but it does not give you the arrest," Isaacs said.

"For us, as the Cape Flats Safety Forum, the push for devolution of power is pure political positioning for 2026. What we need is leadership with the will to take on the gangs," Isaacs concluded.

mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za