Community and security experts are urgently calling for a comprehensive, multi-sectoral strategy to combat the escalating gun violence and mass shootings plaguing the Cape Flats, following a particularly deadly week in one community.
The plea from the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition comes after 14 people were killed in separate incidents in Kraaifontein last week alone. Among the victims were three individuals killed in an apparent vigilante attack where they were set alight.
Dr. Llewellyn MacMaster, Chairperson of the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition, pointed to deep-seated societal issues fueling the crisis. “Youth unemployment and moral decay contribute to the ongoing gun violence,” MacMaster stated. He confirmed that the coalition is preparing a formal document with proposals for the Minister of Police, focusing on immediate actions such as increased resources for crime hotspots and improved collaboration between station commanders and their communities.
Echoing the need for a broad strategy, Dr. Jakkie Cilliers, Board Chair and Head of African Futures and Innovation at the Institute for Security Studies, emphasized that the problem extends far beyond policing. He identified a combination of “push factors” like socio-economic challenges, drug and alcohol abuse, and readily available firearms, coupled with a failure on the “suppression side,” including a lack of police capacity and reform.
“We sit with a situation in the country where resources are not effectively used,” Dr. Cilliers said. “People have started to lose trust in the police and the criminal justice system.”
He cited the rise in vigilantism as a direct and concerning response to this breakdown in trust, reflecting a perceived failure of law enforcement agencies. Dr. Cilliers argued that solving the crisis requires a “whole of society, a whole of government” approach, noting that the police alone cannot resolve it.
He pointed to systemic failures across the entire criminal justice system, where a murder conviction rate of approximately 13% means an perpetrator has an over 80% chance of getting away with the crime. The solution, according to Dr. Cilliers, is not complex but hinges on competent management and a lack of political interference in policing.
“This is not rocket science. This is actually about good management and it’s the good management that is not happening,” he stated, highlighting the need to invest in detective services and fix the firearms control system.
Commenting on the re-emergence of groups like People Against Gangsterism and Drugs (PAGAD), Dr. Cilliers warned that vigilantism is a dangerous symptom of a failed social contract. He stated the only solution is to rebuild trust in the criminal justice system, reestablish community policing forums, and return to proven basics of effective policing and governance.
“We can fix the police. We can get on top of crime justice in South Africa,” he concluded, “but it really takes political will.”
