Western Cape's political rift deepens as violent crime escalates

A heated debate in the Western Cape Legislature this week has exposed the profound political divisions surrounding the province’s escalating violent crime crisis. 

Opposition parties have vehemently accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of neglecting communities in their time of need, while the governing party has shifted the blame firmly onto national policing failures.

The debate was introduced by DA MPL Gillion Bosman, who warned that the province is facing "a crisis where dangerous criminals are released on parole and are back in our communities, while SAPS vacancies remain unfilled".

Bosman said the recent spate of shootings in Delft, Gugulethu, Muizenberg, and Eerste River, which claimed more than 30 lives in just weeks, showed how the justice and policing system is failing residents.

"Families are being torn apart because the system cannot keep violent offenders behind bars," he said.

Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais supported Bosman’s concerns, saying the province was being undermined by a national police service in decline.

Premier Alan Winde called murders the "big elephant in the room" facing the province.

"South Africa records around 27,000 murders a year, and 4,500 of those are in our province," Winde said.

He noted that the Western Cape had 20,000 SAPS members six years ago, but now has only 12,900. "We cannot win this fight if the numbers keep going backwards. We need a new policing model, and that means devolving policing powers to the province."

Winde also called for stricter monitoring of parolees, saying: "Electronic tagging of violent offenders must be considered before they are released back into our communities."

The ANC's Benson Ngqentsu rejected the DA’s position, accusing it of exploiting gang violence for political mileage while ignoring poverty, unemployment, and inequality.

"The DA’s billion-rand safety plan has failed to reduce murders," ANC MPLs said. "Their camera network is a white elephant, with many not working. Instead of blaming SAPS, the province should acknowledge its own failures."

EFF MPL Aishah Cassiem went further, saying the DA’s safety strategy was "a total failure" since its launch in 2019.

"The murder rate has gone up, not down. The Safety Cooperation Agreement with the national government has delivered nothing tangible," she told the House.

Cassiem demanded that the province declare the crisis a disaster.

Meanwhile, the Cape Flats Safety Forum founder, Abie Isaacs, called for the resignation of Western Cape Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile.

He said crime was spiralling out of control under his leadership.

He said residents feel "under siege" and argued that more people are dying on the Cape Flats than in some war zones.

Isaacs added that Patekile has failed to inspire confidence, even when questioned by the media.

According to Isaacs, the Western Cape needs strong leadership against gangs, as in previous years.

Turning to the debate over devolving policing powers to the City of Cape Town, Isaacs said the Safety Forum does not believe this would help.

"In terms of the volatile situation, specifically with guns and gangs, I don’t think it’s correct now to devolve the policing power. Purely because there is no political will to deal with this scourge on the Cape Flats." 

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