Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is appalled by Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia’s frank confession that there is still no workable plan to stop the gang violence tearing the Cape Flats apart. This failure is nothing short of a betrayal of the families who live under daily siege, and it lays bare the collapse of national policing.
At a time when murder and shooting figures are spiralling, SAPS has still not produced or resourced a clear strategy. Every day of dithering costs lives. Children are gunned down in crossfire. Parents bolt their doors by nightfall, praying that stray bullets won’t rip through their walls. No country should accept this as routine life.
South Africans have had enough of empty promises and vague timelines. The Cape Flats needs urgent action, not another week, not another month. The DA is demanding that SAPS put forward a fully funded plan now.
We insist that:
- SAPS dismantle its silo mentality and properly coordinate with Metro Police, community safety structures and intelligence services;
- Drug lords and criminal networks be targeted through genuine intelligence-led policing;
- Local stations be equipped with the officers, vehicles and tools required to put real strength on the ground.
Yes, policing is a national mandate. But while Pretoria sits on its hands, the Western Cape government has poured resources into LEAP officers, Metro Police and safety initiatives. Still, without the power to run investigations and intelligence directly, the province is left fighting with one hand tied behind its back.
This is why the DA is pushing, with urgency, for policing powers to be devolved to provinces that can deliver.
Communities deserve a police service that answers to them, not to distant politicians who do not live with the consequences of failure. If the Constitution must be amended to make this happen, then that debate must be faced head-on. Centralised control has failed. Lives are being lost every day because of it.
Regards
Lisa Schickerling MP
DA Spokesperson on Police