[imagesource: Cape Town Daily Photo]

Last week, the quarterly crime statistics were released.

Police Minister Bheki Cele said on Friday that the SAPS recorded drops in all crime categories between April and June 2020, as South Africans stayed home during the national lockdown.

Notably, however, almost 300 000 people were nabbed for violating lockdown regulations.

The report also highlighted, once again, South Africa’s gang problem.

IOL reports that over the three months reflected in the statistics, gang-related cases accounted for 63 murders, 59 attempted murders, and nine cases of assault.

Of those 63 murders, 59 cases took place in the Western Cape. The Eastern Cape and Free State recorded two cases each.

Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said the provincial government was considering a number of programmes to prevent violence in society.

He said the step was essential in the fight against gangsterism and in addressing the culture of violence which permeated every facet of life in the province.

He said gangs and gangsterism plagued the Western Cape, more so than in other provinces.

Gangsterism is rife in Cape Town, and once you’re in, getting out isn’t exactly a walk in the park, which compounds the problem.

Cele has described the first three months under the COVID-19 lockdown as a “crime holiday”, with its lower levels of contact crimes.

Gang-related violence is a major cause of contact crimes in the Western Cape, and the decrease in contact crimes is in part due to the stay-at-home orders and curfews that limited movement.

Gangs in the Cape Flats also declared a ceasefire for a brief period, but that didn’t last long.

As it stands, of the top 30 South African police stations reporting the highest incidences of murder, 14 precincts, or 46,6%, were in the Western Cape, and accounted for 55,8% (428 out of 767) of the murders in the province.

Grassy Park Community Police Forum chairperson Melvin Jonkers said shootings continued unabated on almost a daily basis in Parkwood Estate.

He said the police had to do everything in their power to curb violence and gangsterism and prevent the death of innocent children.

He said children were constantly injured and killed in cross-fire.

In Lavender Hill, a man was gunned down earlier this year, while a toddler tried to run to safety amidst a hail of bullets, further emphasising the risk that those living in communities where gang violence is prevalent face on a daily basis.

Police spokesperson Andrè Traut said police attached to the Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) continue to work towards a solution.

The problem runs deep, and has been left unchecked for too long.

[source:iol]