With 13 weeks since the inception of Operation Lockdown, a lot of ground has been covered and murders in the Cape Town metropole are showing a decline. The road ahead still requires much more than boots on the ground. Thorough planning, much needed intelligence and mutually beneficial partnerships are but some of the ingredients that will set this intervention apart from any other.
From a dark period, when in one weekend, from 31 May to 2 June 2019, a total of 73 murders were recorded provincially, followed by another shocker in July 2019, when thirteen murders occurred in 48 hours in Philippi East as well as other incidents, the situation has been stabilising and murders are now averaging in the 30s per week, provincially.
That is testament to the hard work of the integrated forces as well as station, cluster/district and provincial deployments. Figures aside, the absence of serious violent crimes incidents, particularly on weekends when crime often peaks, is on its own an indication that the impact of the operational intervention is beginning to yield results.
Provincial SAPS operational planning reflects contingency in preparation for the inevitable withdrawal of additional forces as Operation Lockdown remains a temporary support to Western Cape police.
The police in the Western Cape are cognisant of the President of the Republic’s extension of the duration of the SANDF deployment in Cape Town, thereby taking Operation Lockdown to March 2020. As a consequence, all operations are still executed with vigour and strength.
Since July 2019, without fail, integrated forces attached to Operation Lockdown have been hard at work executing operations in the identified areas or as guided by the crime threat analysis. With the passage of time these operations are not generating much attention. However, all role-players amongst others, various SAPS units, metro police, traffic services, SANDF and in some instances scores of neighbourhood watch members as well as volunteers have been descending week after week on a number of targeted precincts in an effort to create safety for all.
Raids, operations, cordon and searches, vehicle checkpoints, roadblocks and search and seizures, have been a common occurrence, particularly on weekends when most criminal acts occur.
A total of 889 arrests for an array of crimes including murder, attempted murder, assault and robbery were executed in the past two weeks. Of the figure, 337 were wanted suspects.
The operations are set to continue in a bid to restore calm to communities plagued by serious violent crimes in Cape Town.
Communities are urged to share vital information on crime related issues using the police Crime Stop number 08600 10111. All information shared will be treated confidentially. A word of gratitude goes to all who on a daily basis strive to make the Western Cape safer.
South Africa Today – South Africa News
