Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant- General Thembisile Patekile has come under fire for his presentation on gang violence, which the Portfolio Committee on Police has slammed as misleading and inadequate.
Despite claims that the situation is ''under control,'' alarming statistics show that 90% of gang-related murders nationwide occurred in the Western Cape.
National Assembly Police Portfolio Committee chairperson, Ian Cameron accused Patekile of misrepresenting the extent of gang violence on the Cape flats.
"The content we’ve been given today is wholly inadequate and in several respects, even misleading,” said Cameron. "The use of a single table on contact crimes at seven gage stations is not a meaningful reflection of the situation. The 2024/25 dataset is inconsistent and unreliable compared to 2023/2024 dataset, which was more complete.
He stated that the Anti-Gang Unit was understaffed, poorly equipped, and operates in a structural vacuum.
While the K9 and Flying Squad units are also under-resourced and lack training and that Public Order Policing vehicles were mostly not operational.
“The third quarter stats from SAPS itself offer a far clearer picture of the scale of gang violence, yet they were ignored today.
“Between October and December 2024: Gang-related murder was the 4th highest causative factor countrywide, 263 of 294 gang-related murders were in the Western Cape 90%, 297 of 331 gang-related attempted murders were in the Western Cape also 90%.
“We cannot speak honestly about the state of policing in this province while glossing over numbers like these."
"Only eight of its 23 vehicles were operational when I recently visited the unit. Officers are being diverted to court duties and prisoner escorts instead of gang investigations.”
Cameron said resources at police stations including at the AGU base were shocking.
“The Old Faure base is in a state of collapse: 210 members share three broken toilets.
“No water backup system, cable theft regularly disrupts power, No perimeter fence, No cleaning staff And then this shocking matter: A known gangster photographed in an AGU vehicle in 2022.
“The officer responsible still works in the AGU operations room.
“SAPS refuses to purchase pre-trained dogs, even though these can be operational in six weeks.
“On the Flying Squad: Officers in the Flying Squad have had no promotions in up to 20 years.
During his presentation, Patekile said despite a slight increase in contact crimes in gang-infested areas, the police has implemented various strategies to address gang violence, including the National Anti-Gangsterism Strategy and the Western Cape Provincial Anti-Gang Strategy.
He explained that a number of illegal firearms in circulation are controlled by gangs and criminal groupings with 27 recently recovered at a storage facility in Bellville South.
He added that the top 7 contributing gang stations are as follows: Mitchells Plain, Manenberg, Bishop Lavis, Elsies River, Kleinvlei, Delft and Ravensmead and that total of 42 convictions were made, with Organised Crime : A total of 111 single facet cases were handled with a total of 108 arrests.
He said via a data table that with the seven gang stations, the period April 1 to March 26 , for all contact crime showed a total of 117 048 cases in 2023 / 2024 and 115 826 for the period 2024/2025, with a -1222 difference and a -1.0% change.
The Committee also said that calls were for the SANDF, the South African National Defence Force to be roped in reduce gang violence to which, the National Commissioner of Police, General Fannie Masemola, said it was a decision for the presidency.
Zona Morton, Whistle- Blower said the presentation was extremely disappointing.
“Addressing the current state of gang violence in the WC should be dealt with more urgency. Asking questions from a PC should not be seen as a personal attack which I found was Patekile's response. Defensive , evasive and purely uninterested to the plight of the communities on the Cape Flats who face gang violence 24/7,” she stated.
“PC speaks of whole Government and whole society approach but yet blocks crime activists on whatsapp.”
Cape Argus