SON OF A GUN

Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security Alderman JP Smith said that there are significant challenges to the control gang-related gun violence . 

Communities such as Lavender Hill, Mitchells Plain and Hanover Park to name a few have been at the forefront of these blood baths with residents pleading for additional deployment of law enforcement personnel and the South African National Defence Force in some areas.

But Smith says targeting guns and ammunition could help stem the tide. 

Smith says: “The extent of the problem lies in quantifying just how many illegal firearms and ammunition are in circulation in our communities. In addition, the impact of the ballistic testing backlog which delays matters when perpetrators are arrested.

"The City of Cape Town successfully amalgamated the use of gunshot detection technology with intelligence driven deployment of resources to confiscate as many illegal guns as possible.

"Tools such as ShotSpotter, CCTV and drones are not solutions to gang violence on their own, they're tools to support the officers on the ground, to make them more effective and improve their impact.

"However, none of this can replace the value of boots on the ground and therefore the City is continuing the expansion of enforcement resources through LEAP and soon the Ward Based Officers.”

“The conviction rate for these firearms is painfully low. There have been 81 convictions, but many of these cases are still before the courts with 143 ballistic reports outstanding.

"We are consistently taking up the issue with SAPS about the supply of illegal firearms and ammunition in Cape Town and we need more interventions from Crime Intelligence to trace who is responsible for this continuous supply and have them face the consequences.

"We also need faster ballistic testing to get that conviction rate up. The City is also seeking legal opinion on ballistic testing and forensics to assist SAPS to hopefully address the ballistics backlog."

There has also been an outcry about the release of parolees and repeat offenders into the same community.

When the Daily Voice reached out to the Department of Correctional Services about criteria when releasing convicts, spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo says: “Parole consideration for parolees is applied the same for all offenders.

"Parole conditions which determines their monitoring is drawn up by the parole board looking at the risk profile.”

Chairperson of the Cape Flats Safety Forum, Abie Isaacs said they are calling on an update on the stolen firearms from Mitchells Plain Saps and how many firearms have been recovered.

He adds: “We call on DCS to engage the community before releasing some offenders with specific violent crimes.”