Parliament - Police Minister Bheki Cele on Thursday challenged police generals to bring down the high rate of murders in the Western Cape or give up their uniforms.
Cele was tabling the SA Police Service and Independent Police Investigative Directorate budgets in Parliament following a bloody weekend in the Western Cape. At least 13 people were killed in several shootings in Philippi East over the weekend.
"We are confronted with the sad reality of multiple burial activities in cemeteries, more than newborns in maternity wards," Cele told members of Parliament.
"The recurring scenes of scattered dead bodies in the streets of Phillippi, Mitchells Plain and Nyanga are unbearable. It is on that score than I challenge all generals in the South African police to surrender their uniforms if this situation does not improve."
South Africa's murder rate increased by seven percent during the April 2017 to March 2018 reporting period, with a reported 57 people being killed a day.
Gang shootings in the Western Cape have seen the province maintain its reputation of being South Africa's murder capital. Of the 10 policing precincts where the highest murder rates were recorded, seven were in the Western Cape.