Western Cape Under Siege

Statement by Nicholas Gotsell MP – DA NCOP Member on Select Committee on Security & Justice:

The Democratic Alliance (DA) is deeply alarmed by what now appears to be a pattern of deception and disciplinary manipulation emanating from the Western Cape Provincial Police Head Office, led by Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Thembisile Patekile.

In a written reply to Parliament the South African Police Services (SAPS) unequivocally stated that a constable with a long record of disciplinary contraventions was dismissed from its service on 10 December 2025. Yet, during an oversight visit to Athlone Police Station, the DA found this same officer working in the charge office – a fact confirmed by a senior officer who further indicated that station management had no knowledge of any dismissal, but was in the midst of finalising yet another disciplinary complaint against him.

This is not an administrative error. A dismissed police officer cannot lawfully be on duty. The only reasonable conclusion is that Parliament was misled, or that dismissals under Lt Gen Patekile’s command exist only on paper and are ignored in practice. The question is whether this responsibility rests with the Acting Minister of Police, in whose name the parliamentary reply was submitted or the Provincial Commissioner, who is responsible for the information provided to the Ministry.

This scandal unfolds shortly after the DA uncovered misinformation by the Western Cape Police in respect of rape kit availability at police stations across the province in December and while the Western Cape is under siege from violent crime, gang warfare, drug trafficking and extortion. Communities are pleading for visible, ethical and competent policing. Instead, over the past months, the Provincial Commissioner has chosen to:

• overturn dismissals for officers caught with large quantities of drugs and stolen SAPS vehicles;
• overturn dismissals for corrupt officers who sold police dockets;
• reduce serious misconduct to token sanctions; and
• appoint compromised senior officers to chair disciplinary hearings.

Following sustained pressure by the DA to obtain answers about the several instances where the Provincial Commissioner has shielded and reinstated criminals who serve in some of the hardest hit crime hotspots in Cape Town, Acting Minister of Police, Prof. Firoz Cachalia, recently admitted to Parliament that Lt. Genl. Patekile’s irresponsible exercise of his administrative powers is reason to review the 2016 SAPS Disciplinary Code.

In an apparent attempt to evade further scrutiny, someone chose to lie to Parliament about the dismissal of a police officer with a long list of guilty verdicts on charges ranging from ⁠assault common, ⁠⁠crimen injuria, insubordination, making derogatory remarks, displaying disrespect towards his commander, ⁠⁠late for duty, absent from duty, improper conduct and ⁠⁠unacceptable behaviour.

The DA will now formally write to the Acting Minister of Police to urgently demand confirmation of exactly where the information claiming this dismissal originated from; who supplied it to the Minister’s office and why an Ethics Complaint should not be laid for misleading Parliament.

In addition, the DA calls for a full, independent audit of every disciplinary outcome in the Western Cape SAPS since Lt Gen Patekile assumed office, including:

• all dismissals imposed;
• all dismissals overturned or varied; and
• all disciplinary chairpersons appointed.

A province under siege cannot afford a Provincial Commissioner who reinstates crooks, undermines discipline and treats Parliament with contempt.

If Lt Gen Patekile cannot enforce discipline honestly and transparently, then he has no business leading the fight against crime in the Western Cape.