Outcomes of Western Cape Government Cabinet meeting with South African Police Service

On Wednesday, 27 August 2025, Premier Alan Winde chaired a regular meeting of the Western Cape Government Cabinet.

Premier Alan Winde opened the meeting by expressing his deep concern over the recent escalation of violent crime in parts of the Western Cape, in particular Cape Town. “Over the past month, the ongoing gang violence, compounded by a recent spate of mini-bus taxi-related shootings, has worsened,” he stated. He continued, “The levels of violent crime are intolerable. Our residents, especially the most vulnerable, are suffering at the hands of gangsters and extortionists. We will not stand for this.”

Cabinet members then received a briefing from officials of the Western Cape South African Police Service (SAPS) Provincial Commissioner’s office on:

• The state of gang-related violence;
• Extortion activities; and
• Conflict within the mini-bus taxi industry.

Deputy Provincial Commissioner: Crime Detection Major-General Bongani Maqashalala emphasised that gang-related violence is receiving urgent attention through continuous deployments and operations in several priority areas, with the SAPS working closely with the City of Cape Town law enforcement.

Ongoing operations have yielded positive results. Since 1 April 2025, the following successes have been recorded:

• 679 arrests for murder;
• 684 arrests for attempted murder;
• 578 arrests for the illegal possession of firearms; and
• 29 804 arrests for drug-related offences

In addition to these successes, 842 illegal firearms, among them high-calibre weapons, have been seized over this period.

More than 40 convictions in gang-related cases have been secured over this period. While Cabinet welcomed these convictions, it pointed out that there are still significant challenges facing the country’s criminal justice system which need to be decisively addressed to ensure all criminals are held to account.

In tackling extortion, 263 suspects have been arrested for kidnapping, and a further 25 have been taken into custody for extortion, specifically affecting the construction industry.

During the recent outbreak of mini-taxi violence, 33 suspects were arrested. 

Cabinet resolved to keep pursuing efforts to bring stability to the mini-bus taxi industry through ongoing negotiations, involving affected associations, the Western Cape Mobility Department, SAPS, and the City of Cape Town. The Premier stressed, “If we need to take further measures to protect the lives of commuters and residents, we will not hesitate.”

Anroux Marais, Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, thanked SAPS management in the province for maintaining open lines of communication with the provincial government and for its willingness to work collaboratively to address violent crime. 

Cabinet offered further assistance from the provincial government to improve policing.

Cabinet endorsed the 2025 Policing Needs and Priorities (PNP) report. The report, which is compiled by the provincial Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety, aims to influence the allocation, distribution, and utilisation of policing and safety resources.

Cabinet welcomed the recent extension of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) deployments to 11 priority areas in Cape Town to support the SAPS, as well as the roll-out of the Evidence-Based Hotspot policing strategy, which has been adopted by the police service.

This is a collaboration between the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town, SAPS, Hans Seidel Foundation, and  Institute for Security Studies. This strategy involves focusing police patrols in smaller areas when crime spikes. Resources are then saturated in these locations.

This approach also includes:

• Shorter patrols: Patrol visits last only about 15–25 minutes, which is proven to prevent crime more efficiently across multiple hotspots and cause minimal disruption to other duties;
• Using tracking technology: Patrols are monitored using tracking systems (like AVL and EPIC);
• Ongoing evaluation: Crime data is used to evaluate the impact of the strategy to allow for adjustments as needed. 

Premier Winde raised concerns with the SAPS delegation over the under-resourcing of the service in the province, “It seems as if we are going backwards. We must utilise all resources available to us to stabilise the situation and ultimately deal a blow to gangsterism and other violent crime. We must also have difficult conversations to ensure that we constantly improve. This involves the devolution of policing authority to our government. But ultimately, we must work together. If we do not stand together, the gangs and the criminals are going to win.” 

There are just under 13 000 active SAPS members in the Western Cape, which is not sufficient given the province’s rapid population growth. There should be in excess of 25 000 SAPS members deployed in the Western Cape.

The Premier concluded, “We will continue fighting for more policing resources for our residents, and for those resources to be allocated more effectively. We can only boost economic growth and job creation if we make our communities safer.”