Western Cape crisis: Leaders call for army deployment as gang violence escalates

The rise in crime in predominantly Coloured communities across the country, particularly in the Western Cape, has led to the call for the South African Defence Force (SANDF) to patrol the streets. 

In recent weeks, more police have been deployed to hotspot areas; Mitchell’s Plain, Mfuleni, Delft, Bishop Lavis, Tafelsig, Muizenberg, Grassy Park and Manenberg, following a wave of gun-related attacks. 

In KwaZulu-Natal, gang and drug-related violence continues to plague the Wentworth community.

Last month, one person was killed in a drive-by shooting. A second man also sustained gunshot wounds but survived the ordeal. 

In Gauteng, five suspects have been arrested following a mass shooting that claimed the lives of two teens and left five more injured.

Western Cape Provincial Parliament, Deidré Baartman, revealed that the province remains the epicentre of South Africa's gang crisis.

"Nowhere do we see the far-reaching effects of crime more visibly than in the scourge of gang violence," Baartman said during her budget address on September 30.

According to Baartman, gang violence has reached alarming proportions, with the province accounting for the vast majority of gang-related deaths nationwide.

"Gang-related killings remain one of the most severe safety crises in our Province. In 2024/25, there were 4 467 murders, of which 882 were gang related. The Western Cape, though home to less than 12 per cent of South Africa's population, accounts for nearly 90 per cent of the country's gang-related murders," she said.

Baartman said the scale of gang activity, involving between 90 and 130 active gangs and more than 100,000 members continues to devastate families and trap young people in cycles of violence.

"Many of these gangs target children for recruitment, pulling them into a world of crime before they have the chance to build a life of dignity and opportunity," she warned.

Army patrols

This has led to Patriotic Alliance (PA) MP Liam Jacobs calling on the government to deploy the army to patrol gang-stricken communities.

Jacobs said Coloured communities in particular bear the brunt of the bloodshed, with daily shootings destroying lives and eroding public trust in law enforcement.

"Coloured lives matter. When I say 'Coloured lives matter', it does not imply that only Coloured lives matter. We are saying that Coloured lives matter too. And it is these Coloured lives that are being lost on a daily basis. They're lost through gun violence, gang violence, every single day. And the very system that is supposed to protect us, is failing," he said.

He called on President Cyril Ramaphosa's administration to urgently authorise the deployment of the army to stabilise volatile communities across the Cape Flats.

"All we are asking of this system is peace. That is why we are calling on the national government to step in and bring the army into our areas. Because it is going to be impossible to make sure that we have long-term healing if we don’t have stability," Jacobs said.

Wear black on December 1

Jacobs announced that the PA and community members would stage a mass demonstration on December 1, wearing black in remembrance of those killed in gang violence.

"Everywhere in the world, they will know about the struggle and the names of our brothers and sisters who have lost their lives to violence. It is the army, or it is nothing," he said.

Caution

According to Professor Theo Neethling, of the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State, while calls for SANDF deployment to the Cape Flats are not new, such measures should be treated with caution.

"There have long been calls for the deployment of the SANDF to the Cape Flats. In fact, the SANDF has already been deployed there on several occasions, in 2015, 2017, and 2019, in efforts to curb spiralling gang violence.

"While such interventions may yield short-term gains, the use of the military in domestic law enforcement raises serious concerns and should be discouraged," he said.

Neethling warned that the SANDF is not institutionally equipped to handle urban crime prevention.

"Tactically and institutionally, the SANDF is not well-trained or equipped for community protection or crime-fighting in densely populated urban environments," he added.

"There are no shortcuts to tackling South Africa's deep-rooted crime problem. Rather than resorting to military deployment as a quick fix, government attention should be directed toward strengthening the SAPS and its intelligence and investigative capacities."

In research by Godfrey Maringira and Diana Gibson titled Responding to Gang-Related Violence in South Africa’s Western Cape: Some Policy Options (Social Science Research Council, gang violence, especially in places like the Western Cape has deep social, economic, and historical roots.

This includes apartheid-era spatial planning: Forced removals to townships such as the Cape Flats broke apart established communities and created concentrated poverty, social dislocation, and limited opportunity, the perfect conditions for gangs to thrive.

General Fannie Masemola, National Commissioner of SAPS, recently said that it is heartening that Western Cape police continue to work tirelessly to discover, deconstruct, and remove gang-related activity from hotspot locations around the province.

From April 1 to November 1, more than 980 police officers were deployed to various hotspots for gang activity on a daily basis, including 800 SAPS and City of Cape Town officers, as well as another 182 from Head Office.

This is in addition to the roughly 9,000 police officers that work at 62 police stations around the City of Cape Town's policing district. This collaboration has resulted in a number of victories, including the arrest of 722 gangsters in hotspot regions such as Mitchell's Plain, Mfuleni, Delft, Bishop Lavis, Tafelsig, Muizenberg, GrassyPark, and Manenberg, to name a few.

"We have since 2021 deployed 2,408 newly trained officers to various units and stations across the Western Cape to bolster our fight against crime and we will continue to prioritise and capacitate the province.

"The support and collaboration of the community play a major role in ensuring that we put an end to gang violence. Through Community Policing Forums (CPF) and other safety and security structures, the SAPS remains committed to forging solid partnerships to end ongoing killings", added Masemola.

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