PNP Report: Murder cannot be solved without a new approach from SAPS

22 October 2023

The Western Cape’s 2023/2024 Policing Needs and Priorities (PNP) Report has been tabled in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. A legislative mandate of the Department of Community Safety and Police Oversight, the report highlights the fact that the overly-centralised model of policing espoused by Bheki Cele is not working, especially in light of continued failures to address critical resource shortages.

According to the report, the national police service has lagged behind its recruitment targets across South Africa, to the extent that the national police force’s numbers are now twenty years behind where they should be. This means that the national police to population ratio stands at one police officer for every 413 residents. In the Western Cape’s 13 priority stations, the situation is even worse. Examples include:

Philippi at 1:674;

Harare at 1:773;

Delft at 1:784;

Samora Machel at 1:838;

Gugulethu at 1:874;

Cloetesville at 1: 1 242.

These numbers essentially mean that one officer might be responsible for the safety of over 1 000 residents – an obviously untenable situation. It is not only vital that SAPS allocate more resources to the Western Cape, but these resources must also be allocated to the locales in which they are so desperately needed.

While the Western Cape has suffered a 41.6% increase in murder between 2013/2014 and 2022/2023, this pales in comparison to the stunning 60.2% increase in murder nationally during the same period. While these massive increases are horrific, they are perhaps unsurprising given the continuous issue of massive under-resourcing on the part of SAPS.

However, there are some encouraging signs. The rate of increase for murder has slowed significantly within the Western Cape in the last financial year, and the proportion of murders which are related to gang activity has reached its lowest point for five years. Critically, given the fact that murder is often localised to certain precincts, five of the top 10 precincts showed a decrease in murder over the 2022/2023 financial year:

Mfuleni: -3.9%

Kraaifontein: -10.64%

Samora Machel: -0.77%

Harare: -7.76%

Khayelitsha: -15.31%

The Western Cape’s LEAP officers are deployed to all of these hotspot stations, where they have assisted SAPS in responding to habitual offenders and violent crime. The PNP notes that, from October to December 2022, LEAP made 2 422 arrests, and confiscated 59 firearms. This is in line with the findings of the recently-released Provincial Economic Review and Outlook, which observed a significant decline in reported crime in these areas in the 13 quarters after LEAP implementation.

While LEAP and the Western Cape Safety Plan have played their part in stemming the tide, the PNP makes it clear that SAPS must increase and improve resource allocation, and expand specialist detachments such as the Anti-Gang Unit if there is any hope of making a meaningful change to safety in the province.

DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Community Safety Gillion Bosman says: “While it is encouraging to see progress being made, we cannot let our guard down in the Western Cape. It is vital that SAPS comes to the table and works with our provincial officers to reduce crime and make our residents safer by ending the problems of under resourcing and under deployment. As the DA, we will continue to use every resource at our disposal to make this happen, including pursuing the devolution of policing to the provincial government.”

“While I am already in the process of inviting senior management figures of SAPS Western Cape before the Standing Committee on Community Safety, I will additionally extend an invite to Minister Bheki Cele to participate in these proceedings. It is vital that all stakeholders come together to find common solutions to our problems.”

Issued by Gillion Bosman, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Community Safety, 22 October 2023