Cape Flats communities bleed while SAPS drags its feet
Cape Flats communities bleed while SAPS drags its feet
The past weekend once again exposed the brutal reality faced by communities across the Cape Flats. Our neighborhoods have been turned into war zones, our streets stained with blood, and our people left to live in fear, while the South African Police Service (SAPS) continues to fail in protecting the very citizens it is mandated to serve.
In Lotus River, five men came under fire in Nita Street on Sunday morning. A 32-year-old man died on the scene, while four others, aged between 18 and 42, were left wounded. The Grassy Park SAPS, which oversees the area, is currently under strain, with 28 detectives each managing 156 dockets. The station has 113 active SAPS members and is operating with a 27.56% vacancy rate.
In Overcome Heights, the Muizenberg SAPS registered yet another murder following the fatal shooting of a 34-year-old man on Rasta Road. The incident is suspected to be gang-related. The Muizenberg station has 21 detectives, each handling an average of 101 dockets, and 81 active SAPS members, with a 24.30% vacancy rate.
In Mitchells Plain, violence flared once again over the weekend. A 50-year-old man was gunned down in Tafelsig on Friday, while another man was shot and wounded in Platteklip Street. Later in the weekend, a 70-year-old woman in Beacon Valley was shot in the stomach, and in Eastridge, a 32-year-old man was killed while another was wounded — both incidents believed to be linked to gang activity. The Mitchells Plain SAPS currently has 110 detectives managing 82 dockets each, supported by 393 active members, and is functioning with a 15.12% vacancy rate.
These numbers expose a policing system that is chronically under-resourced, over-stretched, and failing our communities. Detectives are drowning under impossible caseloads, stations are crippled by high vacancy rates, and operational capacity is collapsing, yet national SAPS management remains silent and unmoved.
Benedicta van Minnen MPP, DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Police Oversight and Community Safety said: “Our communities are bleeding. Mothers are burying their children. Children grow up normalizing gunfire. The Cape Flats has become a battlefield, and the national government’s centralized control of policing is costing lives every single day.”
The Democratic Alliance (DA) in the Western Cape reiterates our urgent call for the devolution of policing powers to the Western Cape. Provincial and local authorities, who understand the realities on the ground, must be empowered to manage policing resources, appoint leadership, and direct safety strategies that work for our communities.
This is not about politics; it is about saving lives. The time for talk is over.
We cannot continue to mourn while Pretoria drags its feet.
We demand:
• Immediate reinforcement of SAPS resources to all high-crime precincts in the Cape Flats.
• Filling of all critical vacancies within the next quarter.
• Transfer of policing powers to Provincial and local government to ensure accountability, responsiveness, and community-driven safety interventions.
Our message is clear: devolution now, before more lives are lost.
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