'ONS KOM VIR JULLE'

ACTING Minister of Police Professor Firoz Cachalia has sent a warning to Cape gang leaders and will bolster SAPS’ ranks with additional officers.

The Western Cape has recorded hundreds of murders in just seven weeks, prompting urgent interventions from the police.

From 1 July to 23 August 2025 over 400 people were killed in the 30 most violent policing districts in the province.

Cachalia condemned the ongoing killings and issued a strong warning as delegates from 54 African nations gathered at the 27th INTERPOL African Regional Conference in Century City this week.

He said: “Where you have unruly gangs shooting people in the streets, it’s not acceptable. So I can say it is a message to those gangs: they must stop. Because I do not regard the status quo as acceptable.”

Focusing his attention on the killings in the Cape, Cachalia said he would join hands with religious and provincial leaders to fight crime. 

He added: “I’ve addressed a communication to my office for a meeting so that I understand what is required, with religious leaders taking the initiative to talk with me on Monday. 

“Hopefully, from those engagements, I will decide what needs to be done. I plan to be back in Cape Town to pay dedicated attention to this matter. If urgent steps are required, further steps will be taken once I’ve gone through this process.” 

Having received a submission on the devolution of policing powers to the Western Cape government and the City of Cape Town, he added that relations with local authorities have improved. 

He said: “There were, at some point, some problems with cooperation, and we resolved them. We are attending to those problems so that they can work together. We are assessing what we can improve, and we will implement new strategies.”

National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola said additional police officers had been deployed to the Cape Town metro.

He said: “We have over 200 police in the province, actually in the City of Cape Town, and those are coming from other provinces. They’ve been fighting crime here.”

Masemola noted that they will need to come up with regte plan to fight gang violence . 

He said: “We expect to change our strategies and make sure that the current situation is unacceptable. We don’t accept it, and we will definitely make sure that we come up with new strategies to fight this gang violence.”