Community Safety
- What is the total number of violent crimes, especially murders, (i) that have been reported in the province in the first two months of 2021 and (ii) that have been reported in the top ten murder precincts in the province;
- (a) what is the number of children who have been murdered in the province between January 2020 and February 2021 and (b) how many of these murders were related to gang wars;
- what are the details of the operations that have been conducted by the LEAP (Law Enforcement Advancement Programme) officers in each of the identified crime hotspots from January 2020 to date;
- what are the detailed plans and strategy of his Department to curb violent crimes and murders in the province?
The South African Police Services informed me as follows:
17. (1) (i) 491 Murders
(ii) 1. Kraaifontein 30 Murders
2. Delft 31 Murders
3. Nyanga 25 Murders
4. Khayelitsha 32 Murders
5. Harare 23 Murders
6. Phillipi East 22 Murders
7. Mfuleni 23 Murders
8. Gugulethu 28 Murders
9. Manenberg 10 Murders
10. Ravensmead 8 Murders
(2) (a) 121 Murders
(b) 26 Murders due to gang war
Minister of Community Safety to reply:
(3) The LEAP teams were predominately deployed to support SAPS in the enforcement of the COVID-19 National Lockdown Regulations between February 2020 to June 2020. These actions were undertaken to contain the spread of the COVID-19. During the second period, from July to September 2020, the operational focus returned to crime prevention initiatives and focused operations.
As of October 2020, LEAP officers were redeployed to five hotspot communities Khayelitsha, Nyanga, Philippi, Deflt and Bishop Lavis.
In recent weeks, we have also deployed a new contingent to Mitchells Plain. By the end of the year, we will deploy tranches to Kraaifontein, Gugulethu, Harare and Mfuleni.
In the past week alone, LEAP officers deployed to the six communities highlighted above, have:
- Conducted 3605 person searches;
- Conducted 106 house searches;
- Conducted 324 vehicle check points and vehicle searches;
- Conducted 26 follow up visits to ensure shebeen closures and inspections at on-consumption liquor premises;
- Issued 119 notices and fines; and
- Held 128 joint, autonomous and integrated operations with SAPS.
During the week under review, LEAP further recovered 2 unlicensed firearms.
Our officers made a total of 52 arrests for charges including:
- Possession of drugs (28);
- Possession of dangerous weapons (9);
- Possession of illegal firearms (2);
- Possession of imitation firearms (2); and
- Possession of illegal ammunition (2).
(4) Seated within the safety priority of the Western Cape Government’s Recovery Plan, we are guided by the Western Cape Safety Plan’s aim to halve the murder rate over the next ten years. The Safety Plan stands on two legs, one of violence prevention and one of law enforcement.
In coming weeks, we will be deploying the Departments’ 1000 Youth Safety Ambassadors, who will be deployed across the Metro and Province, assisting communities in related crime fighting initiatives.
At the same time, we are finalising our Law Enforcement Technical Committees which will be function in each of the province’s crime hotspots. These Committees will bring together a communities’ safety stakeholders to ensure evidence-driven and data-led deployments.
These efforts are further brought together in an all of government approach through the inter-Departmental Steering Committee for the Safety Priority. This committee is co-chaired by the Head of Department for Community Safety and the Head of Department of Health, ensuring that we take a public health and life-course approach to safety. The committee is further supported by sub-committees which focus on law enforcement, social cohesion and urban design.
As a Department we are realigning our programmes so that they speak to our area-based approach. Through our line management, we are systematically communicating these changes to our affected programme partners, who have expressed excitement to work with us in this new model. This will ensure that our deployments are evidence driven and that we are more efficient in our use of public funds.
