The City and provincial government’s “double-up trial redeployment” plan has been met with sharp criticism, with opposition parties and community organisations saying it fails to address the underlying root causes of the alarming crime rate.
The Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety and the City of Cape Town on Tuesday announced plans to implement a “double-up trial redeployment” for Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers to combat organised crime and extortion syndicates in crime hot spots.
They said Leap would redeploy members to focus on six precincts and the strategy would be assessed and revised after six months. These included Delft, Khayelitsha, Philippi East, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain and Gugulethu.
A reaction unit of 120 members would also be used in Hanover Park, Manenberg, Atlantis, Kraaifontein, Elsies River and other areas which will not have permanently stationed Leap officers. However, they did not disclose how much this would cost.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais said: “The Western Cape Safety Plan is based on data and empirical evidence, and testing different approaches to tackling crime.
We must be willing to take the lessons that we learn, apply them and approach the complex crime problem from as many angles as we can.”
Safety and Security Mayco member JP Smith said the need for a targeted approach was required to combat a new wave of organised crime, perpetrated by groups that have become increasingly bold and ruthless in their tactics.
“Minimal additional operational costs are expected with the initial transfer of firearms, vehicles and equipment to the new bases that are receiving increased Leap officers.”
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron said there was no evidence that the Leap programme was reducing the number of murders.
“The Western Cape Safety Plan –which funds the City of Cape Town Leap officers – was intended to halve the murder rate by putting extra boots on the ground in the 10 most violent parts of Cape Town.
“The Leap officers have already cost us R1.7 billion with another R1bn budgeted for. This R2.7bn must be scrutinised against the key performance indicator –that Leap officers’ presence in communities ravaged by extremely violent crime would see a reduction in the number of murders. But every year since the launch of Leap, the number of murders has gone up.
“The responsible thing to do would be for the province to evaluate whether R2.8bn allocated to this safety plan could achieve better outcomes if it were spent on the root causes of crime – especially since the province has announced that it defunded education and health services to fund this plan. And even more importantly since this plan has come at the expense of 2 400 teacher posts.”
ANC MPL and spokesperson for community safety and police oversight, Benson Ngqentsu, said: “We are cautious that the ‘double-up redeployment’ of Leap officers should not be a superficial tactic for public relations purpose, but must be rooted in a comprehensive, working-class-centred approach and within the broader framework of the co-operation agreement signed by police minister, MEC and City of Cape Town.
“If the ‘double-up redeployment’ trial means abandonment of other crime hot spot communities such as Kraaifontein, and done outside the framework of the co-operation agreement, the initiative can be described as worthless.”
Mitchells Plain United Residents Association chairperson Michael Jacobs said: “Deal with the poverty, the high unemployment, overcrowding, change people’s living conditions so children can have a better environment to grow up in, then you will fix the crime issue.
They need to deal with underlying causes, there needs to be massive sustainable job creation.”
Cape Times