News24 | ‘Integrated strategy’ in place as Western Cape records 90% of SA’s gang murders

There were at least 575 gang-related murders in the Western Cape over six months.

• At least 575 gang-related murders took place in the Western Cape over six months.
• The province accounts for more than 90% of the country’s gang-related murders.
• Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said police had “an integrated strategy” to tackle the violence.

More than 90% of the country’s gang-related murders between April and September took place in the Western Cape.

According to the latest quarterly crime statistics, there were at least 575 gang-related murders in the Western Cape over six months.

The province saw a total of 2 201 murders over the same period. Nationally, there were around 11 500 murders between April and September.

During the presentation of the crime statistics, Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia said police had “an integrated strategy, which is well resourced, to fight the scourge of gang violence in the Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Gauteng, and KwaZulu-Natal”.

“I am confident that this is the right strategy. The challenge is going to be with implementation. The ministry will be monitoring the implementation of this strategy on a monthly basis. There is some evidence that we are beginning to make progress,” he said.

Cachalia added that he intended to visit the Western Cape in the new year to engage specifically with the provincial government and the police.

He also said police would redouble their efforts to remove guns from the streets.

Firearms were overwhelmingly the weapon of choice in murders in the Western Cape.

“Access to firearms, as all the evidence shows, is a key enabler of violence. The police are putting a lot of effort into identifying stockpiles of illegal weapons, but a lot more needs to be done. We must identify the sources, be it private security companies, state departments or civilian loss and close this gap,” he said.

“Part of the solution must be to make sure that these guns do not continue to flood our communities. In that regard, we’ve had some success, but we are struggling to ensure that these gangs don’t have access to guns.”

The Western Cape was the only province in which gang violence resulted in more murders than other causative factors, with at least 293 gang-related murders recorded between July and September, and 282 reported between April and June.

The Western Cape recorded the highest number of murders with more than one victim (228 people were killed in 100 incidents), followed by Gauteng, in which 191 people were killed in 75 incidents from July to September.

For the six-month period, the Western Cape recorded 15 murders for every 100 000 people.

“Combating gang violence requires effective, no-compromise policing, effective investigation and prosecution. We must ensure that the gang lords pay for the harm they do to our society and the future of our country,” he said.

“Organised crime is a direct threat to the safety of our people, to the growth of our economy, to the prosperity of our country, and is a threat to our national security. Criminal networks fuel violence, entrench corruption and weaken our democratic institutions.”