Western Cape Provincial Commissioner to honour invite by Portfolio Committee on Police

The office of Western Cape Provincial Commissioner said that they will honour the invitation received by the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, after he requested a meeting in light of the provincial commissioner’s assertion that police are dismantling gangs in Cape Town.

Cameron wrote to the national police commissioner requesting an urgent meeting with SAPS senior management, including the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile, to inquire about Patekile’s remarks where stated that police are capable of handling gang violence and that there is currently no need for the army to be deployed.

His remarks came during the release of the latest quarterly crime statistics, where it was revealed that 263 gang-related murders occurred in the Western Cape between October and December 2024.

Patekile made the remarks in light of a call from Fight Against Crime SA (FACSA) where they said that they remain resolute in their demand for the immediate deployment of the SANDF to assist SAPS in combatting gang violence in the Western Cape.

“In Hanover Park, a community completely abandoned by the government, SAPS, and the City of Cape Town, residents took matters into their own hands. They met with gang leaders and negotiated a 7-day truce to silence the guns.

“While FACSA acknowledges the bravery of these residents, we reject the idea of negotiating with murderers and drug dealers—whom we label as terrorists. It is a tragic reflection of government failure that a community, which has suffered unbearable loss at the hands of these criminals, had to plead for mercy just to survive,” they said.

“SAPS management continues to downplay gang violence at the cost of lives on the Cape Flats and in townships.”

In response to Patekile’s remarks, Cameron said that it is patently inaccurate that the police are making headway in dismantling the systematic gang violence in the city.

“It is commendable that some well-known gang leaders have been arrested and are facing prosecution, but similar to the crime statistics, there is a divergence between lived experiences and statistics reported,” said Cameron.

He said that the reality is that SAPS is failing to make meaningful headway in uprooting gangsterism in the Cape Town, and found it worrying that the phenomenon is spreading across the country.

“It is in this context that we were astonished to hear the assertions from Lieutenant-General (Adv) Patekile, and it is only fair for the committee to afford him a platform where he can elucidate on the assertions made to media houses,” Cameron said.

Cameron said what perplexed him even more was that during an oversight visit to the Anti-Gang Unit in the Western Cape as part of constituency work, a committee delegation saw first-hand the state of disarray at the unit exacerbated by lack of resources and tools.

“It is clear that the lack of adequate support to the unit has had a devastating blow to the morale and effectiveness of the unit. Had this unit been given adequate support backed up by an effective Crime Intelligence Unit, four-year-old Davin Africa would not have been killed and his 12-year-old sister, who was also killed barely two years ago, would not have been killed,” Cameron said.

“For the Provincial Commissioner to believe that the SAPS is winning the fight against gangs is both disingenuous and makes a mockery of the challenges faced by the residents of these areas in the city,” Cameron said.

SAPS spokesperson, Brigadier Novela Potelwa, said that the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner has noted the invitation by the portfolio committee to appear, and field questions.

“The invitation will be duly honoured by Western Cape SAPS management. Out of respect for the Portfolio Committee and its mandate, a detailed response to the issues flagged, will be presented during the meeting,” Potelwa said.

theolin.tembo@inl.co.za