Patricia de Lille says gang violence continues to rise while Western Cape governing parties the DA and ANC play political games. Picture: Supplied
GOOD Party leader and Western Cape premier candidate Patricia de Lille has slammed the ANC and DA, claiming the parties treat the province as a political playground.
This while parts of the province, such as the Cape Flats, are notorious for harbouring gangs and for gun-related violence.
De Lille said gangsterism was spiralling out of control and innocent people were dying.
“The Western Cape is experiencing a level of gang-related violence that is unprecedented in 30 years of democracy. Not only is the violence out of control, but it is spilling out of traditionally gang-ravaged communities,” she said.
De Lille’s statement follows the death of a Grade 11 girl who was killed in the crossfire during a gang shooting in Belgravia, Athlone, at the weekend.
Statistics South Africa revealed the Western Cape as the province with the highest number of child murders in 2019/20, recording 23.8% of the country’s child killings. From January to July last year, 39 children were murdered.
De Lille said law enforcement and the police were not visible enough to curb crime and control gangsterism. Instead, community forums and neighbourhood watches were protecting gang-infested communities. “It is volunteers and anti-crime initiatives who do most of the work. They call an ambulance, pick up bodies and reassure traumatised members of the community that they are not on their own.”
She said that while the DA and ANC played cat-and-mouse games, residents of poor Western Cape townships remained in the trenches of crime and poverty.
The Western Cape government sold an illusion of a well-run province, but its people continued to experience poor service delivery, she said.
“Until those in charge of Cape Town and the province accept their responsibility to address apartheid’s legacy, and provide proper services to poor people, to enable them to develop their way out of poverty, gangs will continue to proliferate. The suffering will not stop.”
The Star
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