Cape Town – Improved crime intelligence is needed to prevent the rampant mass murders in Khayelitsha, MEC of Community Safety and Police Oversight Reagen Allen revealed.
Allen was reacting to yet another mass shooting in the area that claimed the lives of four people in Khayelitsha.
Last night, four people were murdered in Khayelitsha Site B when unknown gunmen opened fire at a supermarket.
The shooting happened two days after the Gugulethu mass shooting that left three dead and two injured on Sunday night.
“I am deeply appalled at yet another mass murder that occurred last night in Khayelitsha,” said Allen.
“The SAPS confirmed that four people were shot at the Madiba supermarket in Site B.
“Three died in the store and the fourth later at a medical facility.
“The motive for the shooting is still unknown. I trust that this will soon be established.”
Since March this year and including these four recent murders, 26 people have lost their lives in mass shootings in Khayelitsha. Since September 2020, 51 people have been fatally shot in Khayelitsha.
“This is a clear failure of crime intelligence, which requires urgent attention,” said Allen.
“I’ll once again engage the SAPS provincial commissioner, Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile, about how they are attending to this matter, as this cannot continue in this manner.
“Although we’ve seen arrests in some of the other shootings in Khayelitsha, it seems as if criminals think the area is a free-for-all and they can do as they please.”
He also called on communities to assist SAPS and provide any information or details they might have, so that the perpetrators who have no regard for life can be arrested and face justice.
“This incident also further confirms why the current National Minister of Police Bheki Cele is not fit for office, and why a head that does not play politics with crime is required.
“Further to this, it once again highlights the need for SAPS to be devolved to provinces such as ours, who are more than capable to manage the service.
“If diplomacy and lobbying is not going to bring about an immediate change, other and further options would have to be considered.”
Police numbers tabled by the MEC show that Khayelitsha’s police to resident’s ratio is sitting at one officer for every 628 residents. In Harare it is 1:879 and Lingelethu West, 1:664.
The provincial average is 1:520.
“Both the national minister and his deputy, keep harping on that we’re the most resourced and that a report to this effect will be provided.
“This report has still not arrived, and the statement alone contradicts the 10% SAPS vacancy rate that we currently have in the Western Cape.”
The Western Cape government is throwing its weight behind the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) to assist in trimming down the high murder rate in part of Cape Town.
Allen said there were positives already as eight out of the 14 stations where they are deployed have seen a reduction.
“In addition to this, the City of Cape Town’s safety and security directorate is working on adding capacity to its strategic information management unit (SIMS) because intelligence driven policing is and should always be a priority,” he said.