Detective shortage sparks alarm over rising crime in Western Cape

Nearly 300,000 active criminal cases are currently under investigation in the Western Cape, shared among just 2,729 detectives, placing severe pressure on the province’s ability to solve serious and violent crime.

Recent parliamentary replies from the police reveal that 293,224 criminal cases remain active in the province. With current staffing levels, each detective is responsible for an average of about 107 cases.

The figures have sparked renewed concern about delayed investigations, unsolved violent crimes, and a growing number of dockets where suspects are listed as “unknown” and motives remain “unclear”, particularly in gang-affected areas of the Cape Flats.

The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape said the pressure on detectives was contributing to a justice system struggling to keep pace with violent crime. The party also condemned the weekend shooting of four young people on the Cape Flats, in which three victims aged between 16 and 21 were declared dead at the scene, while a 19-year-old was taken to hospital for treatment.

DA Western Cape spokesperson on Police Oversight and Community Safety, Benedicta van Minnen said the scale of the backlog highlighted “crippling resource constraints” within the detective service.

“To make matters worse, 178 of the province’s 1,628 detective vehicles are currently out of service, severely limiting investigators’ ability to respond to crime scenes, track suspects, and follow up on critical leads,” she said.

The DA also raised concern about organised crime capacity, noting that only 82 detectives are assigned to organised-crime investigations across the entire Western Cape, despite entrenched gang violence and its link to repeated shootings.

Responding to the concerns, Western Cape MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais said high detective caseloads increased the risk of delays, incomplete investigations, and missed investigative opportunities, particularly in serious and organised crime cases.

She said the department had consistently raised staffing and resource shortages with national government through its annual Policing Needs and Priorities Report, submitted to the National Police Commissioner and the Minister of Police.

Marais noted that SAPS had recently taken steps to address capacity challenges, including earmarking a portion of new recruits for crime investigation and launching a re-enlistment drive to attract experienced former detectives.

She added that the Western Cape government had also engaged directly with Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia on the issue, including proposals to extend certain investigative powers to the City of Cape Town’s Metro Police.

“We are scheduled to meet with the Acting Minister early in February, and detective capacity and resourcing will feature prominently on the agenda,” Marais said.

The DA has called on national government to urgently prioritise additional detectives for the Western Cape, ensure detective vehicles are returned to service, and significantly strengthen organised-crime investigation capacity.

“Every unresolved case represents a family denied justice and a community left vulnerable,” Van Minnen said.

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