Seeing the unseen: Restoring trust and safety in the Western Cape

When Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia outlined his new plan to tackle gangsterism and extortion in the Western Cape in Parliament, he spoke to a truth every resident of the province already knows: the problem is not just crime; it is fear. Fear has silenced witnesses, hollowed out trust, and turned many communities into no-go zones after dark.

Reversing that pattern will take more than enforcement; it will take visibility. Police need to see what is actually happening, in real time, and respond with intelligence and compassion.

Nowhere is this more evident than in the Cape Flats. Every week, families in Hanover Park, Manenberg, Nyanga, Mitchells Plain and Delft endure the sounds of almost constant gunfire. Yet much of that violence never enters official statistics and is “invisible” to authorities. Police reports depend on 10111 calls, but people living under gang control often stay silent. The result is a dangerous paradox: the places that need the most protection often appear, on paper, to be quieter than the lived reality.

That invisibility has policy consequences. Without reliable data, scarce resources are misplaced, progress cannot be measured, and communities lose faith that their government even knows what they are living through. Minister Cachalia’s promise of “intelligence-driven policing” is therefore more than bureaucratic language, it is the difference between guessing and knowing, between reaction and prevention. 

Over the past few years, the City of Cape Town has introduced new technologies that can pierce that fog. Among them is ShotSpotter, an acoustic gunshot detection network that pinpoints the precise location of gunfire the moment it occurs.

The system does not record conversations or monitor people; it listens only for gunshots, triangulates their origin, and alerts police within seconds. Each alert is a data point—evidence of where and when violence is happening, even when no one calls it in.

In Hanover Park, the data has been eye-opening. Since deployment in 2022, law enforcement has confirmed thousands of shooting incidents that would otherwise have gone unreported. Each alert enables faster responses, which have led to weapons recovered within minutes and suspects being arrested before they could flee. More importantly, ShotSpotter can be life- saving, allowing victims who might not have survived a delayed call to receive medical treatment. 

Behind the numbers there is also a shift in psychology: residents who once believed no one was listening now see patrol cars arriving when they hear gunfire. The result? Trust gets reinforced and the community sees the value in sharing information again.

Technology alone is not a solution, and it can never replace human policing. But when used transparently and governed responsibly, it can serve as a neutral witness in environments clouded by rumor and intimidation. Data from gunfire detection, CCTV, and case-management systems can help investigators map retaliation cycles, trace illicit firearm flows, and understand which gangs are fighting over which territories. 

For law enforcement leadership, that means deploying limited resources to the right places at the right times. For Parliament, national and provincial leaders, it means the ability to evaluate programs on measurable outcomes, rather than anecdotes.

Communities deserve to know what data is being collected, how it’s used, and how their privacy is protected. In the Western Cape, independent audits and public reporting can ensure that technology strengthens accountability rather than eroding trust.

Minister Cachalia’s commitment to quarterly progress reports is an encouraging start; credible, data-driven metrics can turn those reports into genuine instruments of oversight. 

The deeper lesson from the Cape Flats is that safety emerges when information flows both ways. Sensors detect gunfire, but residents still need to provide context such as motives, the players and the social dynamics that technology cannot offer. When communities see prompt, proportionate responses, cooperation increases. On the flip side of that coin, when responses are absent or arbitrary, silence returns.

That insight should guide the broader anti-gang strategy in the Western Cape. Intelligence-driven policing must be paired with social programs and youth outreach, witness protection, and sustained investment in legitimate economic pathways. 

Internationally, over 170 cities that have combined real-time gunfire detection with analytic policing have experienced positive results. The mechanism is simple: faster medical response saves lives, reliable data directs patrols, precise evidence improves prosecutions and public confidence rises.

Violence thrives in darkness. When the state can see clearly, the consequences shift.

Cape Town is uniquely positioned to lead Africa in this evolution. The Western Cape already hosts some of the country’s most advanced data integration and analytic capabilities. What is needed now is coordination, a unified command of information that links SAPS, Metro Police, community safety forums, and justice officials into a single intelligence ecosystem. 

Minister Cachalia’s emphasis on inter-agency cooperation is exactly right. Success will depend on sustained political will, continuous data transparency, and a shared understanding that technology is a means, not an end. 

Public safety is ultimately a social contract. The state promises protection and communities promise cooperation. Both sides stick to the bargain only when they can see evidence that the other is doing the same. That is why visibility into the unseen, matters so profoundly. Each time a sensor detects gunfire, an officer responds, and a resident chooses to speak up, that contract is renewed. 

The Western Cape’s struggle with gangsterism is long and painful, but it is not hopeless. And ultimately, from fear to trust. The path forward begins with the courage to measure what matters and to act on what we learn.

* Clark is President & CEO of SoundThinking (NASDAQ: SSTI), a public-safety technology company that works with law-enforcement agencies and communities worldwide to improve safety through data-driven solutions.