Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on National Police Minister Prof Firoz Cachalia to urgently provide emergency resources to the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) Anti-Gang Unit.

The mayor’s call follows concerning reports that the unit is operating with a minimal number of working vehicles and a critical shortage of essential equipment.

“I am gravely concerned by reports that the SAPS Anti-Gang Unit has just five working vehicles and a shortage of bulletproof vests and firearms, with officers who submit their guns for ballistics forced to go unarmed due to no additional stock,” Mayor Hill-Lewis said.

“I call on the Acting Police Minister to urgently direct resources to this unit given the ongoing gang violence plaguing our city’s most vulnerable communities.”

The Mayor also highlighted the role of the City’s own policing resources in the fight against gang, gun, and drug crime.

“A big part of the solution is to allow the City’s growing policing resources to fully join SAPS in the fight against gang, gun, and drug crime. We are encouraged by the Acting Minister’s recent public commitment to consider granting more policing powers to municipal police. Given the SAPS resource crisis, it is becoming increasingly irrational to resist the City’s request for our officers to be granted criminal investigative powers.”

Mayor Hill-Lewis stressed that improving conviction rates is critical.

“We absolutely must improve conviction rates for gang, gun, and drug crime in Cape Town. This is the only way to remove more criminals from the streets of long-suffering communities, where the poorest and most vulnerable are hardest hit.”

Earlier this month, the City submitted a proposal for municipal police to be granted investigative powers, aiming to boost conviction rates for gang, gun, and drug offences.

Alderman JP Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, emphasised the importance of these powers.

“Our officers need more than just the existing powers to search and arrest, they need criminal investigative powers to build prosecution-ready case dockets. City police are often the first responders at crime scenes and must have the authority to preserve and lawfully obtain evidence, maintain an unbroken chain of custody, and initiate a prosecutable case file,” said Smith.

“Without these powers, time-sensitive evidence is at risk of degradation or loss, witness recollections are not formally captured, and prospects of successful prosecution are diminished.”

The City further recommends that these powers include the ability to conduct forensic, ballistic, or other expert examinations, take witness statements, open dockets, integrate with SAPS systems, and access real-time crime stats and case updates. In preparation, a special training module has been introduced to equip officers with the necessary statement-writing and docket-building skills.

Cape Town continues to expand its policing resources, with over 1 200 officers deployed to major crime hotspots through the LEAP initiative, the addition of more than 1 100 uniformed officers since 2021, and plans to deploy 700 more officers for neighbourhood policing and escorting service delivery teams.

Investments in safety technology, including drones, CCTV, bodycams, automated number-plate recognition, and the EPIC digital coordination system, aim to support smarter policing.

The City says its efforts have already had a measurable impact, taking 400 illegal guns off the streets each year, although conviction rates remain low at just five percent due to broader criminal justice challenges.

“City police have made a massive impact in the fight against crime. With the necessary investigative powers, we are ready to do much more to improve the unacceptably low conviction rates,” Smith said.

IOL News

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