This Is Crucial to Stemming Cape Flat Gang Violence

Dear Editor

The Democratic Alliance (DA) reiterates the urgency of devolving certain policing powers to the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Police Service and other provincial law enforcement authorities in the Western Cape. The Memorandum of Understanding between the City, the Province, the Minister and the South African Police Service (SAPS) must be finalised urgently. This will not only relieve pressure on the SAPS but also fast-track the fight against gang violence that continues to terrorise communities in the Cape Flats.

The current state of forensic backlogs, particularly ballistic testing, has rendered gang-related gun crime investigations nearly useless, allowing criminals to walk free due to delays in critical evidence processing. This is unacceptable. The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government must be empowered to conduct their own forensic investigations, including ballistic testing, and work directly with relevant prosecutors to ensure airtight cases against gangsters and gun peddlers.

Furthermore, the DA will advocate for the establishment of a Joint Task Force to dismantle gang networks and cut off their sources of power.

This task force should comprise:

• SARS to investigate tax evasion and illicit financial flows linked to gang bosses,
• SAPS to support intelligence-driven operations,
• The City of Cape Town Metropolitan Police Service and the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme (LEAP) to conduct targeted ground operations,
• Provincial and Local Traffic authorities to monitor and disrupt gang mobility, and
• The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to ensure successful prosecutions.

The current national policing model is failing the Cape Flats. Thousands of guns have been removed from the streets through operations by the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government with less than 1% conviction rate.

The wheels come off as soon as SAPS takes over and the NPA is meant to prosecute. One of the major complaints is the delays in ballistic testing. This is a critical and simple forensic capacity that can be devolved too.

To make matters worse, according to reports the Grassy Park SAPS station has not had evidence bags on hand since last week. As a result, crucial evidence of criminal wrongdoing – including imitation firearms and evidence of drug-related crimes – were not capable of being logged at Grassy Park, risking contamination of evidence.

The DA remains committed to fighting for a policing model that is proactive, effective, and accountable to the communities it serves—one that is not shackled by bureaucratic red tape and inefficiencies at the national level. We will not stop fighting to restore peace to the Cape Flats, currently a war zone. If the national government refuses to act, it must step aside and allow competent law enforcement structures at the municipal and provincial levels to take the fight directly to the criminals.

Senior management in the SAPS must face a skills audit. This was a resolution of Parliament in 2024 and must be implemented this year. This will be followed with rigorous integrity testing in order to get rid of any corrupt criminal thugs in SAPS top structures.

At the same time, we will continue to support the thousands of excellent men and women wearing SAPS uniforms who remain dedicated to their duty despite the poor leadership at the top. We are grateful that they are still hanging in there, and we will continue to push for better conditions and resources to support them in their vital work.

Regards

Ian Cameron MP
DA Spokesperson on Police