Drug routes and extortion territories fuel deadly gang violence in Western Cape
The Select Committee on Security and Justice has backed new strategies to combat the surge in gang-related violence in the Western Cape, with a particular focus on the deadly competition between rival gangs over criminal markets.
During a briefing by the Acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia, and Western Cape Provincial Commissioner, Lt Gen Thembisile Patekile, the committee was told that the province’s gang crisis is driven by rivalries over drug smuggling routes, urban distribution networks, and extortion territories, which often escalate into gun-related deaths.
Committee Chairperson Jane Mananiso stressed that the committee’s oversight role is supportive rather than punitive.
“Our principle as a committee is to work together with our sister departments in the justice cluster collaboratively in finding solutions to challenges they are faced with,” she said.
Acting Minister Cachalia, who visited the province after public outcry over the violence, said the criminal economy underpins the conflict.
“Often gangs expand their reach and notoriety by recruiting desperate young people to join their violent franchises.”
He warned that wealthy gang bosses are able to operate nationally and internationally, directing operations from behind prison walls and even infiltrating police intelligence.
The Western Cape Strategy on Gangs and Extortion focuses on integrated crime intelligence and data analysis, multi-agency cooperation, flexible task teams, and community partnerships to address the root causes of criminal activity and gather vital information.
When committee members asked about monitoring progress, Cachalia pledged that SAPS would submit quarterly reports to the committee as a means to enforce accountability against them.
The briefing also highlighted systemic corruption linked to procurement loopholes.
Cachalia said that much criminality is a result of South Africa’s loose procurement regime, which does not protect the public purse against fraud and corruption.
Mananiso agreed that reforms to procurement legislation could reduce exploitation.
“The legislation is currently exposed to misinterpretations for nefarious purposes.”
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