Cape Town - Nearly five weeks since the SANDF was deployed into Western Cape communities to combat rampant crime, Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz says residents on the Cape Flats are “rightfully” beginning to question the impact of the deployment.
Fritz said murder rates remained high and that patrols reportedly lasted no longer than three hours at a time.
“It is imperative that we are provided with further information on the army’s deployment plans and tactics, but this information is kept from us,” he said.
“Police Minister Bheki Cele has boasted that this intervention has resulted in high levels of police visibility in the most gang-afflicted communities, the confiscation of illegal firearms and the arrest of over 1000 individuals with outstanding warrants of arrest.
“But it is concerning that these arrests have not resulted in charges and convictions.
“I have been informed that the majority of those arrested were released within 72 hours due to detective services’ failure to positively link the arrests to crimes and/or to complete the requisite investigations.
“I urgently call on Cele to make use of my department’s court watching briefs unit to track arrests made during the deployment and to ensure they lead to the successful prosecution of guilty parties,” he said.
Fritz was responding to the briefing on the army’s progress made since the start of their operations where Cele said more than 1000 suspects had been arrested for crimes including murder, attempted murder, armed robberies and hijackings.
During his briefing ,Cele said they continued to make inroads in dealing with gang violence.
“Currently, 20 members of a notorious gang are before the Western Cape High Court. They are charged in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act,” he said.
Institute of Security Studies senior researcher Andrew Faull said the government should reveal its plan for the army’s deployment and report on indicators of success.
“Considering the numerous factors driving the high rates of both gang and interpersonal violence such as child neglect, domestic conflict, poverty and unemployment, substance abuse, organised crime and weak state services, it isn’t clear why the SANDF has been deployed,” Faull said.
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