Community Safety

(1)   (a)  1056 Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) officers (109 commanders and 947 members) are employed in terms of the LEAP. They are deployed to thirteen high-crime police precincts. A further 30 members are currently receiving training and will be ready for deployment by the end of March 2022. Additionally, a Reaction Unit was established and can be deployed to any area where a flare-up in violence is experienced.

           (b)  Ten of the thirteen high-crime policing precincts forms part of the top murder stations in the Western Cape, i.e. Delft, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelitsha, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga, Philippi East, and Samora Machel. The other high crime areas where the LEAP officers are deployed, are Atlantis, Bishop Lavis and Philippi (Hanover Park).  

                 (c)  The number of officers deployed per area and operational environment, are allocated according to the data provided by the Forensic Pathology Services from the Department of Health and the crime statistics of SAPS. The deployment figures are as follows:

Deployment area	Number of officers deployed
Atlantis	44
Bishop Lavis	51
Delft	90
Gugulethu	66
Harare	90
Khayelitsha	90
Kraaifontein	90
Mfuleni	90
Mitchells Plain	66
Nyanga	68
Philippi (Hanover Park)	50
Philippi East	67
Samora Machel	68
Reaction unit	66
Armouries	40
Control room	16
Operational support	4

              (d)  (i)    The objective of the LEAP programme is to support the deliverables of the Western Cape Governments’ Safety Plan as it focusses on increasing policing capacity and effectiveness. The LEAP officers are therefore utilized according to the powers given to Peace Officers in terms Government Gazette no. 41982 dated 19 October 2018, which relates to crime prevention duties.

                        (ii)   No LEAP officers are utilised for anti-land invasion duties.

                        (iii)  No LEAP officers are utilised for public-order policing duties.  

 

 (2)   In the previous response provided to question 9(a) of Mr. Kama, as per question paper 34, it was indicated that the LEAP officers do not have a legal mandate to investigate crime. As a result, the original proposal to appoint 150 detectives as part of the Western Cape Safety Plan was not implemented as part of LEAP in the Western Cape Recovery Plan.  As this is still the case, no detectives have been recruited and deployed since the last response.

(3)   (a)  Provision is made in section 6 of the Western Cape Safety Plan (2019) and section 5.3 of the Western Cape Recovery Plan (2021) for the establishment of Area-Based Teams (ABTs).

            (b)  ABTs have been established in Khayelitsha (Site B), Harare, Delft, Mfuleni, Mitchells Plain, Philippi (Hanover Park), Atlantis, Bishop Lavis, Nyanga, Gugulethu, Kraaifontein, Thembalethu (Garden Route District), Lingelethu [Malmesbury] (West Coast District), Beaufort West (Central Karoo District), Villiersdorp (Overberg District) and Ceres (Cape Winelands District).

           (c)-(d)  The ABT methodology brings together National, Provincial and Local Government role-players, as well as community-based structures, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and experts. It is an institutional mechanism that both coordinates and monitors all government interventions in the area and operationalises service delivery interventions.

For the 2021/2022 financial year, there was no expenditure incurred.

(4)   (a)-(c)  The Department spent a total amount of R255,492,231 on the Safety Plan to date. The expenditure is inclusive of the training, remuneration, equipment and machinery.

Refer to Annexure A for the detailed breakdown.