Cape Town – The fact that the number of weekly murders in the Western Cape – within 13 weeks since the inception of Operation Lockdown – is now consistently in the thirties range has encouraged Western Cape police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa.
"From a dark period, when in one weekend (31 May to 2 June) a total of 73 murders were recorded provincially, followed by another shocker in July 2019, when 13 murders occurred in 48 hours in Philippi East as well as other incidents," Potelwa said on Thursday.
"The situation has been stabilising and murders are now averaging the thirties per week provincially. That is testament to the hard work of the integrated forces as well as station, cluster/district and provincial deployments.
"Figures aside, the absence of serious violent crimes incidents, particularly on weekends when crime often peaks, is on its own an indication that the impact of the operational intervention is beginning to yield results.
"A lot of ground has been covered and murders in the Cape Town metropole are showing a decline. The road ahead still requires much more than boots on the ground.
"Thorough planning, much needed intelligence and mutually beneficial partnerships are but some of the ingredients that will set this intervention apart from any other."
Potelwa noted that contingency planning is a necessity "in preparation for the inevitable withdrawal of additional forces as Operation Lockdown" is only a temporary support to Western Cape police after being extended to March 2020.
A total of 889 arrests for an array of crimes including murder, attempted murder, assault and robbery were executed in the past two weeks. Of the figure, 337 were wanted suspects.
Communities are urged to share vital information on crime-related issues using the police Crime Stop number 08600 10111. All information shared will be treated confidentially.