Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC vows to join hands with SAPS

Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagen Allen says he is looking into how his office can better support the province’s police to address increasing crime trends. Picture: Nomalanga Tshuma

Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagen Allen says he is looking into how his office can better support the province’s police to address increasing crime trends. Picture: Nomalanga Tshuma

Published Jun 8, 2022

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Cape Town - After the release of the country’s crime statistics, Community Safety and Police Oversight MEC Reagen Allen says he is looking into how his office can better support the province’s police to address increasing crime trends.

Allen was speaking after his engagement with Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile and Deputy National Police Commissioner for Crime Detection Liziwe Evelyn Ntshinga.

Allen said the province had recorded a satisfactory decrease in some crime trends but simultaneously an increase in serious crimes such as rape, murder and common assault.

“While the statistics seem a bit contradictory, we have seen in some of the areas where Leap officers were deployed, a notable reduction in crime. This is due to us fostering positive relationships with Saps and local communities.

“It has yielded success. We know there is a long way to go, but through working alongside Saps, I hope that we will be able to turn the tide and assist communities ravaged by crime,” he said

Allen also touched on the increase in rape cases, saying he was deeply perturbed by the rise in incidents recorded as they painted a grim picture of safety for vulnerable women and children.

Local communities such as Delft, Kraaifontein, Manenberg, Lentegeur and Mitchell’s Plain recorded some of the highest incidents of rape and sexual assault.

Speaking on communities that recorded an increase in murder and other violent crime, Patekile said police were working to put in place interventions such as deploying more officers to priority communities such as Lwandle, Khayelitsha and Delft.

Lwandle was one of the stations that saw an immense increase in crime trends, recording 81.3% in murder cases, which Patekile attributed to taxi violence, violent extortion rings and growth of the local community.

Meanwhile, Police Minister Bheki Cele, accompanied by his deputy Cassel Mathale, National Police Commissioner Sehlahle Fannie Masemola, and Provincial Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile welcomed the deployment of 170 police officers to the province.

The officers will be deployed to cover 10 notorious stations across the City, including Kraaifontein, Delft, Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Philippi East and Mfuleni.