'Extraordinary measures' planned to combat gang violence in Cape Town

Police Minister Senzo Mchunu says “extraordinary measures” are planned to fight gang violence on the Cape Flats.

During a National Council of Provinces meeting on Tuesday, Mchunu said 3 770 gang-related murders were reported between March 1, 2020 to December 31, 2024 and 5 463 gang-related attempted murders were recorded in the same period.

DA MP Nicholas Gotsell slammed the minister on the high statistics as police members of the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) in the Western Cape for the past seven years do not have a fixed establishment or even vehicles.

Gotsell referred to Davin Africa who was shot on February 14 after being struck by a stray bullet while asleep in his home in Happiness Street in Wesbank.

A year after his death, his older sister Kelly-Amber Koopman was also killed in a gang shooting.

Gotsell questioned: “How many more children must die?”

Mchunu said the police department has assessed that Cape Town and surrounding high risk areas require "extraordinary measures" to contain the issue.

"We have concluded that Cape Town and its high-violence zones do not require normal policing, they require extraordinary measures to contain this. 

“The [criminals] in these areas that have told themselves that they don’t fear anything, that they can do anything at any time. 

“In such circumstances we require extraordinary measures. 

“And those measures are coming. We hope that they will curb substantially these kinds of incidents.

“In most cases not even stray bullets, but shooting at random and his killing at will, that is being experienced in some zones in Cape Town.”

Safety and security mayco member JP Smith reported on May 10 that in the past 28 days, communities of Nyanga, Hanover Park, Manenberg and Lavender Hill have endured over 350 shooting incidents.

“For years, firearm violence has been ignored. Unless someone died, no police case was ever opened, and without the docket, no record was established. There was never any proof why these areas needed more boots on the ground from SAPS.

”The Western Cape crime statistics for the third quarter of 2024/25 saw a decrease in murder, however gang violence remains an issue.

“Serious reform is needed to stop this constant surge of firearm-related violence. The gangs seem to have access to an endless supply of illegal firearms and ammunition. It cannot be that this number of firearms and ammunition are making it onto the streets without a trace,” Smith said.

“We have seen yearly increases in illegal firearm confiscations by city law enforcement and we are tracking more than 1 600 different cases, but the conviction rate is not keeping pace with confiscations and arrests.”

He thanked members of the community neighbourhood watches for their role in fighting crime.

Cape Argus