Community Policing Forums in KwaZulu-Natal have called for more support and resources.
This comes after Premier Thami Ntuli convened a meeting with community stakeholders on Saturday to address escalating crime in the province.
The meeting was attended by representatives from Phoenix, Inanda, Ntuzuma, KwaMashu, and uMlazi including SAPS, station commanders of affected stations or their Community Policing Forum (CPF) coordinators, members from other units including safer cities, spiritual crime prevention, departmental senior management, and eThekwini district departmental officials, among others.
The premier, who is the Executive Authority for the Department of Community Safety and Liaison, said there had been escalation of GBV incidents in Ugu and eThekwini districts during January 2025.
As a result, he directed the Department of Community Safety and Liaison to prioritise these incidents.
“Crime in general has also escalated, with more than 10 murders that were reported at Inanda, Ntuzuma, and Cato Manor policing precincts within the space of five days in January 2025 alone.”
He said in the first quarter of 2024/25, eThekwini District led all 10 districts in the number of GBV-related crimes, with 2 003 cases of murder, attempted murder, rape, sexual assault, assault GBH (with intent to do grievous bodily harm), and common assault.
“In the second quarter, the district was also leading with 1 744 cases. Consistently, the top 30 contributing stations were Inanda, uMlazi, Chatsworth, Verulam, Ntuzuma, Phoenix, KwaMashu, Bhekithemba, Cato Manor, KwaMakhutha, Durban Central and Pinetown.”
Ntuli also spoke about vigilante incidents which suspected criminals were being killed.
“This is an unfortunate development which is indicative of the resurgence of mob justice culture. This, if not addressed, will result in lawlessness and more senseless killings.”
Interventions in inner-city, township, informal settlement, suburb, and rural areas do not have to start by addressing the major crime first, he said.
“When transgressions of by-laws are condoned, they breed an environment of crime and a culture of impunity. When people are not punished for wrongdoing, they believe that crime pays and that they will never be caught.”
The premier said that successfully addressing crime in KZN would necessitate a multi-pronged intervention involving all government departments.
“The drivers of all the above crime trends are unemployment, poverty, poor environmental design, dependency on substance, mushrooming taverns, and illegal shebeens – hence the need to strengthen our partnership.”
He cautioned that any action taken to address crime must be carried out in accordance with the country’s laws.
Reacting to the meeting, Aiden David, eThekwini District chairperson for the South African Police Board, which oversees several community policing forums (CPFs), highlighted gang activity and drug-related crimes as the most pressing issues affecting these areas.
He added that police have been doing their bit to eradicate the hardcore criminals in these areas.
David however criticised Ntuli for engaging with community safety structures before meeting with the provincial CPF board.
"The premier is a political appointee. To date, no political appointee has made a difference in fighting crime. I would have appreciated it if the premier had honoured his meeting with the provincial CPF board on Friday, which was rescheduled indefinitely, to discuss our plans for the province before engaging with the community."
David further called on the government to empower CPF volunteers, saying: "Government should learn to empower our volunteers, being the CPFs, and allow them first preference in obtaining vacancies. They should also provide CPF members with the proper tools of trade in order to fight crime across the province."
Mboneni Phewa, a CPF representative from Inanda, identified unemployment as a key driver of crime.
Phewa also pointed to operational challenges within the police force, saying:"There is a gap caused by insufficient resources for SAPS members. They are always sharing vans, and 40% of them are usually in the garage for repairs."
However, he praised the collaboration between CPFs and law enforcement, noting:"Our partnership with law enforcement is superb so far."
He called for better support for CPFs, including training, stipends, and additional vehicles to cover all wards.
He also urged for harsher sentencing for criminals and a more stringent crackdown on illegal firearms.