Cape Town - Premier Alan Winde has been accused of excluding Elsies River, Samora Machel, Manenberg and Philippi East from being part of the Area Based Teams (ABTs) and thus preventing the troubled areas from benefiting from interventions outlined in the Western Cape Safety Plan.
Nyanga Cluster Community Policing Forum chairperson Martin Makasi questioned the premier's rationale, saying that the safety plan had three pillars: law enforcement, social cohesion and urban design or spatial planning.
He said in all the areas where the ABTs were implemented there was only law enforcement via the deployment of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers, and no action was taken regarding the other two pillars.
His comments came after Leap officers were deployed to assist in stabilising the flare-up in gang-related violence in Manenberg.
Winde and acting Community Safety MEC Anroux Marais conducted an oversight visit to Manenberg police station on Wednesday.
Winde said the Western Cape had identified the 11 priority areas in the Metro based on their high murder rates. Based on the third quarter crime statistics, reported murders in those areas accounted for 42.23% of the provincial total.
He said the overall number of murders committed within the 11 ABTs, however, has been reduced by 9.35% in the last quarter – showing that the ABT approach was yielding results.
“Within the Metro, ABTs have been established in Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, and Philippi.
“Within the five district municipalities, ABTs have been established in Beaufort West, Ceres, Grabouw, Malmesbury and Thembalethu. This is, however, not a fixed list and Leap deployments will be made to Philippi and Samora Machel as well,” Winde said.
ANC provincial spokesperson for community safety Mesuli Kama said: “Our biggest criticism of the Safety Plan has been that it is only focusing on boots on the ground and ignores all the other important aspects of the fight against crime, particularly addressing the causative factors which are well articulated in the safety plan.”
Kama said all safety stakeholders must continue to put pressure on Winde and the Department of Community Safety to address the causative factors of violent crimes.