Africa-Press – South-Africa. We will not negotiate with gangsters.”
This is the approach of Western Cape police as they work to quell gang violence, said provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thembisile Patekile.
Patekile told media at a quarterly crime statistics briefing in Cape Town on Wednesday that police had no intention of sitting down with warring gangs to negotiate a ceasefire.
He said police were cracking down on organised crime through high-density operations.
Gang violence was listed as the leading cause of murders and attempted murders, accounting for 17.6% of murder cases in the province, and 30.2% of attempted murders.
According to the police, there were 166 gang-related murders in the Western Cape between April and June, and 225 attempted murders for the same period.
One of the incidents during the reporting period was a gang-related shooting in Ocean View, in which six people were killed.
Patekile said that, among the challenges in addressing gangsterism, was the violence that could stem from arresting gang leaders.
He said it resulted in others attempting to take leadership positions, which could trigger “intra-gang violence”.
He said:
Patekile added that there had been a concerning number of children murdered “within the gang environment”.
The provincial community policing forum chairperson, Fransina Lukas, said the province was “known for gang violence and all the factors that contribute to this”.
“It’s sad to see children as young as 14 killed because of gangs. Those children must be in school, they must be cared for. They must have a future.”
Premier Alan Winde, who also attended the briefing, said gangsterism remained a “big issue” facing the Western Cape.
He said the provincial government was consulting a number of stakeholders in addressing the issue and was rolling out its “safety plan” between numerous departments.
However, he said the 5.5% decrease in murders in the province was “encouraging”.
“We’ve got to keep on doing the same thing, keep on reducing these numbers,” he said.
Community safety and oversight MEC Reagan Allan said provincial departments were collaborating on programmes aimed at violence prevention.
He added that the province’s anti-gang unit needed to be capacitated.
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
