The Western Cape government says it is satisfied with efforts by police to clamp down on the spate of violent crimes which have rocked various parts of the Cape Flats in recent weeks.
Areas such as Hanover Park, Joe Slovo and Khayelitsha have seen a spike in shooting incidents and mass killings.
Western Cape Minister of Community Safety Albert Fritz met with provincial police commissioner Yolisa Matakata to discuss interventions which have been put in place to arrest the violence.
Communities like Ravensmead, Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Joe Slovo and Hanover Park have been living on tenterhooks in recent weeks as flare ups in shooting incidents have claimed as many as 20 lives.
The mass shooting of people within their homes has been highlighted as of particular concern, with Fritz saying the crimes relate to a number of issues including extortion and territorial gang violence.
Fritz says, “They have very detailed, individual investigations of all the cases and in many instances it’s murders, remember its in house in the home, by these young gang elements and takes different shapes, you know how different the gangs are in certain areas, its different to other areas…”
“But it all looks like extortion stuff, territorial stuff and it’s unfortunately creeping into our black communities now. That’s a worrying sign,” added Fritz.
He says he is happy with the police’s strategy at station level especially in Hanover Park and also at provincial level. He says the province is also looking at ways to develop legislation around tracking and tracing ammunition sold in the province.
“We just saw the violence subsiding over the weekend, we didn’t have any incidents of heavy violence partly because of the action and swift action of SAPS but also because of the support that we now as leap officers are giving as force multipliers so we are very happy and encouraged,” says Fritz.
Residents of Hanover Park urged to help bring change to the violence-wrecked area
Law enforcement officers are already on the ground in Hanover Park to assist police in crime prevention. More officers will also be deployed to other hotspots including Delft, Nyanga and Khayelitsha.
Western Cape Premier Alan Winde took part in a safety patrol in Delft as part of a long term violence prevention plan.
Winde says, “We got to walk with the partnership between our neighbourhood watches and the deployment of law enforcement officers to our crime hot spots along with police services. It is critical that we build these partnerships in our communities so that we start to make our communities safer. This is part of the safety plan of boots on the ground on the one side and then getting behavioural change and making sure violent prevention in the long term becomes a focus.”
Investigations meanwhile continue into mass shooting incidents in Khayelistha, where six people were killed at a house in Site C.
There have also been no arrests as yet in connection with the mass shooting of five people in two separate incidents, allegedly by the same suspects in Joe Slovo in Milnerton.
Top cop gunned down in the Cape Flats
Our WC #safetyplan focuses on making communities safer in this province. It was great to see how Delft’s NHW unit, law enforcement and SAPS are working together to keep residents safe. ?? #DelftSafetyWalk pic.twitter.com/wBmj2tSvJI
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) October 13, 2020
Great to be out in the community of Delft today meeting residents. Safety is one of our 3 focus areas for our recovery phase and we are working tirelessly to create safer communities in the Western Cape. @WesternCapeGov #DelftSafetyWalk pic.twitter.com/B0FlhaRKRr
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) October 13, 2020
We must continue to work together to ensure that our communities are safe. Thank you to everyone playing their part in making this province safer. #DelftSafetyWalk pic.twitter.com/2gkhYCixz3
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) October 13, 2020
