CAPE TOWN – In the run-up to the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde met with members of the Western Cape Government, City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) on Tuesday to hear about the successes and challenges of their joint safety initiatives in some of Cape Town’s most crime-riddled areas.
“This is not an ‘us and them’ issue. We are all in this together in preventing and fighting crime,” Delft police station commander Brig.Celani Sihlali told Premier Winde ahead of a safety walkabout in the area where 130 LEAP officers work closely with the police.
“I agree with Brig, Sihlali and other safety stakeholders that the only way we will effectively beat back crime is through partnerships. This scourge impacts us all, as well as our economy. We must forge even stronger collaboration across our government as well as with municipalities and civil society. We are utilising all the resources we have at our disposal to deal decisively with violent prevention. Every single person in this province deserves to feel safe. Increasing safety helps our economy grow, with more jobs available, which is the most effective way to reduce poverty and crime,” the Premier said.
Violence prevention not a quick fix
Earlier in the day, the Premier and provincial minister of police oversight and community safety, Anroux Marais, met with Violence Prevention Unit (VPU) coordinators at Khayelitsha District Hospital.
They shared their progress in building local partnerships to strengthen violence prevention interventions with young children.
At the gathering, Premier Winde stressed, “Violence prevention is a long-term investment because we have got to change the way people behave. It is not a quick fix. We need to stay the course and showcase more of this work being done at the grassroots level to give hope and opportunities to the children at risk of getting involved in crime and violence.”
Housed within the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness, the VPU plays a central role in the Western Cape Safety Plan.
To support the province’s efforts to reduce violence, the VPU analyses real-time trauma data from healthcare facilities to identify patterns and hotspots where patients present with violence-related injuries. This evidence is then shared across government departments, offering clearer insight into when, where, and how violence occurs, to enable targeted and coordinated crime-reduction interventions by safety partners.
Safer communities are our shared responsibility.
To strengthen violence prevention strategies in the long term, the department has recently expanded its Planet Youth programme – a whole-of-society approach that strengthens the social protective factors young people need to make healthy and positive choices. To date, the department has surveyed more than 49 000 learners in 123 schools to hear directly from them about their realities, pressures, and needs.
Working closely with communities, parents, and local partners, the provincial Department of Health and Wellness is now co-creating practical solutions that support young people and help create safer, more nurturing environments for them to grow and thrive.
Minister Marais noted, “Safer communities are our shared responsibility. While strong policing and collaboration between the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies like LEAP matter, they alone cannot defeat entrenched crime and gangsterism. We all need to work together: Government, residents, and civil society.”
GBV Ambassadors make a change
The Premier then engaged with Western Cape social development department officials at its Metro East Region offices where 91 mobile phones were handed over to social workers to be used as part of the Social Work Integrated Management System (SWIMS) application.
The innovative SWIMS application, launched in April 2024, helps to reduce the administrative burden on social workers. Premier Winde and Jaco Londt, Western Cape minister of social development, also listened to feedback from local Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Ambassadors. The Western Cape Government’s GBV Ambassador initiative is steadily being implemented across the province, with more than 600 dedicated women and men already working in the programme to expand the provincial government’s capacity to address this plague.
In a meeting with GBV Ambassadors, the Premier and minister Londt thanked them. “You and all our GBV Ambassadors have truly stepped up to help those in need and help us as government to create a more caring society,” the Premier told the group.\
We share the anger of all law-abiding South Africans who are taking a stand against gender-based violence and honour the many lives affected by this scourge.
GBV Ambassador Soeraya Davids said she has seen the difference the programme is making in encouraging more survivors to come forward, “The moment the community sees us wearing the sash or the badge that DSD gave us, it gives people the confidence to talk to us because they know us. They know now where to go or who to speak to. People can rely on us because we’re taking their hand, and we don’t just take them to the next step, but we take them to the last step.”
The Premier called on all community members, institutions, and partners to stand together in the fight against GBV, support survivors, and work together to end the cycle of violence.
The Western Cape Government notes the call for a national shutdown on Friday, 21 November, to protest the intolerably high levels of violence against women and children in South Africa.
“We share the anger of all law-abiding South Africans who are taking a stand against this issue. This initiative serves as a powerful reminder of the urgent need to address gender-based violence and honour the many lives affected by this scourge across South Africa,” said a spokesperson.
