Cape Town - With nearly 200 people killed over three weeks across the province, the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition plans to meet with safety structures today, saying they were ready to mobilise residents to “defend their own safety”.
The murder of two people in Eerste River on Sunday added to the 180 people who were killed between June 14 and 30 in the Western Cape.
Kleinvlei police yesterday registered the two counts of murder following the discovery of the bodies of a woman and man with gunshot wounds on a field between Heather Park and Condor Park, Eerste Rivier.
The Cape Crime Crisis Coalition said the State and its agents at provincial and local level have failed to protect citizens.
They planned to meet with Community Policing Forums (CPF) and Neighbourhood Watches today.
“Over the last three weeks, almost 200 people have been shot and killed or injured across the Western Cape – on the Cape Flats as well as rural communities in gang-related violence.
“These include communities such as Nyanga, Ottery, Bishop Lavis, Mitchell’s Plain, Manenberg, Khayelitsha, Ocean View, Kleinvlei, Atlantis, Stellenbosch, Paarl, Worcester and many other areas. We are tired of politicians in the province blaming national politicians for the state of disorder in the province.
“We are tired of police officers turning our people away, or those who disregard our pleas for protection against the gangsters. In fact, we believe that the police, both SAPS and the Metro police, know they have been overwhelmed and have run out of options to protect people from the gangs and the guns.
“It is the arming of gangs and the freely available guns that is enabling the extent of the killings. We as community representatives, CPF members, neighbourhood watch members and civil society organisations pledge to mobilise all the people on the Cape Flats to defend our own safety.”
Elsies River Community Policing Forum spokesperson, Imraahn Mukaddam, said: “We are not getting enough convictions and there is not sufficient crime intelligence capacity to counter the gang wars and organised crime on the Cape Flats.
“The culture within the SAPS is that there is no follow through on gang related murders, because as soon as a murder or any other incident is filed as gang-related it is not prioritised.
“There are so many illegal guns in circulation and no coordinated effort to get these guns off the street. I would recommend that the new minister strengthen community structures such as Community Police Forums and develop communication strategies that improve relationships between SAPS and vulnerable communities.”
On Monday, Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, Anroux Marais, held a meeting with Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, which was also attended by City Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, and Commissioner Robbie Robberts, aimed at addressing the flare up in gang violence.
The issue of inadequate policing resources, specifically for the Grassy Park and Steenberg policing precincts, was raised. Patekile said that over the weekend, SAPS deployed an additional 100 members to areas impacted by the violence.
It was agreed that a follow-up meeting would be held within 48 hours, where data from other SAPS precincts will be shared.
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za