Police Oversight and Community Safety
With regard to the shooting and killing of five people in Atlantis recently:
(a) Whether the withdrawal of LEAP officers from Atlantis will be reconsidered and (b) if the reaction unit will be changed to permanent deployment; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
2. (a) The Department with the City of Cape Town and the South African Police Service is constantly reviewing the changing crime situation in hotspot areas. The withdrawal was reconsidered, and redeployment of the reaction team commenced from the 1st of November 2024 in Atlantis.
(b) The LEAP reaction unit is a roving team to support the areas that have a sudden increase in violent crimes, and who do not have permanent LEAP deployments as per the signed agreement. Therefore, it cannot be changed to a permanent deployment for a particular hotspot area, as the reaction team’s role is to stabilise various areas where there is a surge in crime and violence.
