SANDF deployment only a short-term fix for Western Cape gang violence, officials say

The Western Cape Government and the City of Cape Town say President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement related to the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) in the province is only a short-term solution to curb gang violence.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has called for proper police reform in the province, with better-resourced police stations, and giving municipal police the power to investigate gang-related crime.

"The military will be here for a while and while we're doing that we need to make sure that the system is bolstered," said Winde. "We have far too few police officers. The real area that we've been offering support from the city and the province is investigative powers."

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says city police are already confiscating 450 illegal guns per year; however, the conviction rate for those cases is just five percent.

"The only sustainable real solution is for policing powers to be given to our Metro Police officers so that they can do actual investigations and actually get violent criminals off the streets," Hill-Lewis said.

City Mayco Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, echoed the mayor's sentiments.

"I demand that the criminals terrorising communities in the Western Cape are arrested and successfully prosecuted," said Smith. "It cannot be that case dockets go missing, cases are withdrawn, or investigations go cold, resulting in criminals never seeing their day in court."

Smith called on the President to think about long-term solutions to tackle gang violence in the province.