Minister Cele misses opportunity to admit that devolution of SAPS is needed

Today, National Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, for the period of 1 April 2022 – 11 September 2002, presented, on what he terms “an update on the crime situation in the Western Cape.” Minister Cele highlighted the crime statistics on a few matters, which include that Nyanga is the number 1 SAPS station in the country for contact crimes and that between 5 and 11 September, 83 people were killed in the province.

What the Minister fails to mention is that since the intervention of the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers in Nyanga, where there are currently 73 officers deployed, it is no longer the murder capital of the country. In addition to this, the Minister is admitting how he has failed to ensure that the area is capacitated with the relevant and necessary resources to combat the crimes he is referring to.

The primary purpose of LEAP, which stems from the Western Cape Government’s Safety Plan is to reduce the murder rate in the areas where they are deployed, and half the murder rate across the province by 50% by 2029. The Western Cape Government and City of Cape Town work in partnership to deliver LEAP.

LEAP’s deployment is data-led, evidence based and where the need is greatest. This means there are no skewed allocations as with the SAPS deployment. Between 4 April 2022 – 28 August 2022, their deployment has led to 2 500 arrests for various crimes. Amongst others, these include the possession of illegal firearms, ammunition, dangerous weapons and drugs.

It is however deeply concerning that as per Minister’s Cele’s report, only 118 people were convicted between 1 April 2022 and 11 September 2022. This shows a clear failure on the part of investigations and what is being presented before court. It is however not surprising that the conviction rate is so low, as on average, investigators in the province sits with 250 dockets, each.

It was further mentioned that within a space of 7 days, 33 firearms and 538 rounds of ammunition were removed off our streets. This is noted, as the illegal use of firearms is one of the contributors to the killings that are occurring. The concern is that there remains a great risk that these firearms will land back on our streets, as there is still no firearm destruction site in the Western Cape. Minister Cele admits that the “province has the third highest gun related murders, as per the last released national crime statistics,” yet firearms have to be transported to Pretoria to be destroyed.

Minister Cele further states that SAPS is currently investigating 32 cases of kidnapping, which occurred between 1 March and September 2022. Once again there is a failure on the Minister’s part to admit that these are the known cases, as due to the mistrust in SAPS, there are incidents that are not reported, and families choose to pay a ransom so that their loved ones are safely returned. The truth that the Minister should admit to, is that there isn’t a true picture of what the reality is. To this end, we need to establish a fully integrated and joint operational task team that will together look into the kidnapping and extortion matter. We cannot just receive reports about what is happening in our province.

Today, Minister Cele missed the opportunity to state that he’ll be engaging the Western Cape Government on the devolution of SAPS, as there is a real need for SAPS to be managed by a capable province such as ours. Where LEAP is deployed, it is making a significant difference and both residents and SAPS at ground level are fully appreciative of the additional resources that is strengthening SAPS’ hand in combatting crime.