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Graphic representing a fatal shooting
The Cape Crime Crises Coalition says there is much anger in communities across the Cape Town Metro over the ongoing killings happening, almost on a daily basis.
This after the Western Cape Premier Alan Winde tabled a report by the province’s Police Ombud during a sitting of the Provincial Parliament.
The Premier approached the Ombud, following scathing remarks by a High Court judge on alleged collusion between the police and gangs. The coalition is a social movement that was recently established to amplify the concerns of communities.
Over the last six months, violent crime and fatal shootings have escalated dramatically, especially in Cape Town.
Mass shootings are an almost weekly occurrence. while daily, people are killed at all hours of the day, many are innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.
Taxi violence is on the rise once more, while gang activities are holding entire communities’ hostage out of fear that bullets may fly at any time.
Revelations at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry are amplifying this fear and anger.
The Chairperson of Cape Crime Crisis Coalition, Llewelyn MacMaster, ‘Everything that’s coming out, in terms of the corruption, the rot, is just making us more and more angry and frustrated, and as you know, the blood is flowing on our streets. Bodies are being picked up every day now, just the past three days we’ve seen the slaughter on our streets, and I’m really angry, you know, when those entrusted to keep us safe, are not acting in a way that give us confidence that our lives matter to them.”
MacMaster is among those who applied pressure for the release the Ombud report.
After its release, MacMaster says it shows civil society can and should make an impact.
The report follows a late 2022 Western Cape High Court bail appeal hearing presided over by Judge Daniel Thulare. During his judgment, denying bail, he said, among others, that the evidence suggest not only a capture of some lower ranking officers in the police, but that senior SAPS management had been infiltrated by the 28s number gang.
Upon hearing the judge’s comments, Premier Alan Winde approached the provincial Police Ombud asking what is legally within the province’s powers to act.
The Ombud made clear, among others, that a commission of inquiry could not be convened at the time given that the court matter was still ongoing. Winde approached the SAPS to request life-style audits that could reveal a lot about individuals in relation to their official income.
The premier says the responsibility to act on Judge Thulare’s comments lies with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate.
He added that there seems to be no urgency to enact a workable plan to end the violence….
“In our province, we have 4000 to 5 000 people murdered every year. In South Africa, it’s 27 000 people murdered every year. We need much more anger. We need much more urgency, and we need to do something really proactively. The whole country is now subjected to every day, having a look at questions being posed to our criminal justice system and our policing system. And it is hugely damaging when you listen to what is being said, and it just says there’s a broken system. well, it is time to fix that system.”
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) national spokesperson, Lizzy Suping, says the process should be allowed to unfold before the public is engaged on the issue.
IPID has opened a case following the Ombudsman report in 2022. our investigation is ongoing, and the focus is at establishing the extent of the infiltration
In a written response from the SAPS it says among others, the report was originally submitted in November 2022, and was requested, reviewed and recognised at that time.
It says the Provincial Commissioner gave full and unconditional cooperation to the Ombudsman’s office and the matter was further subjected to national-level review and investigation.
SAPS says it re-commits to working with all oversight and investigative bodies to ensure that any possible wrongdoing is examined, accountability is upheld, and the integrity of policing in the Western Cape is protected.
The Cape Crime Crises Coalition says it has requested a meeting with the provincial commissioner and have several pertinent questions. It plans to hold a press conference within the next week.
