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Despite the Western Cape’s reputation as one of South Africa’s more well-run and economically sound provinces, it is also one of the most deadly, as Cape Town is quickly becoming known as a murder capital.
This unflattering reputation comes as gang violence, syndicates and organised crime have resulted in a spate of deaths in the province over the past week.
Nine people were killed in Vrygond as gangs and taxi wars raged, two people were murdered in Camps Bay – one being the target and the other an innocent bystander, according to police – and another two people were killed in their cars at one of the busiest intersections in the Grassy Park area.
In light of these recent murders and the rising rate of planned attacks in the province, director of the African Centre for Security and Intelligence Praxis, Eldred de Klerk, said that to compare Cape Town to some of the murder capitals around the world run by cartels is a fair comparison.
He added that unless we recognise these comparisons, we will fail to respond to them comprehensively and coherently.
The Mexican Council for Public Security and Criminal Justice published its latest ranking of the 50 most violent cities in the world earlier this year.
While Cape Town was only ranked 11th, the top 10 is completely dominated by cities in Mexico.
Even more concerning is that, out of all 50 cities on the ranking, Cape Town has the highest number of murders overall, with 2,911 murders recorded for the period – a murder rate of 62.22 people per 100,000.
Cape Town’s murder rate, it must be stressed, is heavily weighted toward gang-related violence.
According to crime statistics for the first quarter of 2022, cases of murder within the Western Cape have increased by 12.3% year-on-year.
There were 1,015 murders recorded in the Western Cape for the period January to March 2022, compared with 904 in 2020/21. Five of the top 30 stations recorded an increase in murder, which included:
- Harare (51.3%)
- Kraaifontein (14.9%)
- Delft (17.4%)
- Lwandle (81.3%)
- Lingelethu West (40%).
The South African Police Service (SAPS) also reported that 161 gang-related murders were committed between April and June in the Western Cape.
More recently, areas in and around Cape Town and the Cape Flats recorded 83 murders over seven days from 5 to 11 September 2022, reported Mail and Guardian.
De Klerk said in an interview on CapeTalk that dealing with isolated incidents alone is not enough. The SAPS must address the crime’s systemic, endemic and organised properties to solve the problem.
Several civil society groups within the province agree with De Klerk, calling for action from local, provincial and national governments, Mail and Guardian said.
“We are currently experiencing the worst and most deadly gang warfare on the Cape Flats … This is a significant increase in crime that we as communities have ever seen. We are dealing with murders daily,” said Western Cape Gang Watch.
The Mail and Guardian also reported that the Western Community Cape Police Board (WCPB) has called on the public to be more vigilant and report acts of criminality, saying it “stands firm that the most vulnerable in communities should be protected by our crime prevention, security and criminal justice system”.
Cape Town mayor Geaordin Hill-Lewis has also expressed the urgent need for immediate action from the SAPS to tackle this crisis.
“We simply cannot allow a small handful of criminal syndicates to get away with these crimes in our city,” he said.
The city has expressed its intent to create its own police force, and extend its powers to investigate and convict criminals.
Hill-Lewis said that the SAPS has a woeful conviction rate, and the national Department of Police – led by minister Bheki Cele – has left the province under-resourced to deal with crime.
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