Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has welcomed Parliament’s Police Committee probe into violent crime, hoping it will shed light on the urgent need for higher conviction rates and better resources to combat the gang, gun, and drug crisis plaguing the Mother City.
The mayor sees the parliamentary inquiry as a crucial opportunity to address systemic failures in the criminal justice system that have left conviction rates alarmingly low – particularly the shocking 5% conviction rate for cases involving illegal firearms.
“We can turn the tables on gang, gun, and drug crime, but this is only possible if we increase conviction rates, which remain extremely low,” Hill-Lewis said in a statement released this week.
The probe comes amid a deepening resource crisis at the South African Police Service (SAPS), which has seen its capacity decline even as Cape Town has ramped up its own policing efforts.
JP Smith, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for safety and security, painted a grim picture of the challenges facing local police stations.
“There is a real crisis facing our police service, driven by national-level mismanagement as exposed by the Madlanga Commission,” Smith said.
“Stations are falling apart, detectives don’t have laptops, officers are forced to use their private cellphones, and we constantly hear reports about a lack of basic resources such as paper for statements and, more critically, DNA kits for GBV victims, allowing criminals to walk free.”
Stark statistics
The numbers tell a concerning story. While Cape Town has added 1,263 new municipal officers since 2021 – a 48% increase – SA police officer numbers in the city have declined by an estimated 1,300, representing a 15% drop.
The City now operates 560 more municipal policing vehicles than the police, highlighting the resource imbalance. A parliamentary reply revealed vacancy rates of 20-40% across most Cape Town police precincts, including 200 vacant detective posts as of August this year.
Despite City officers confiscating around 400 illegal firearms annually, only 5% of these cases result in convictions – a statistic that Hill-Lewis described as unacceptable.
The mayor is using the parliamentary probe to advocate for expanded policing powers for municipal officers, arguing that City officials should be allowed to conduct investigations and prepare prosecution-ready case dockets.
“This is an opportunity to put the national spotlight on the urgent solutions we have been calling for: more policing powers for City officers, and more resources for police as our country’s primary policing agency,” Hill-Lewis said.
The City has made significant safety investments this year, including adding 700 new officers to its ranks. However, officials argue that without systemic reforms to the criminal justice system, these efforts remain hampered by poor conviction rates.
Smith emphasized that the solution requires a collaborative approach between the City and the police, focusing on intelligence-led investigations.
“We believe that, working together with the police, we can stop the gang violence plaguing our communities through intelligence-led investigations that dismantle syndicates and remove them from our streets,” he said.
The City is calling on the acting police minister to address the resource constraints facing the police and to advance municipal policing regulations that would give local officers greater investigative powers.
Looking ahead
Cape Town officials will participate in the parliamentary probe to present their concerns and proposed solutions. The inquiry represents a critical opportunity to address the structural issues that have allowed violent crime to flourish in gang-affected communities across the city.
With Cape Town’s murder rate remaining among the highest in the world, the stakes could not be higher. The success of this probe may well determine whether the Mother City can break the cycle of violence that has gripped many of its communities for years.
The parliamentary probe into violent crime is expected to examine the broader challenges facing law enforcement, with particular focus on gang, gun, and drug-related offenses that continue to plague Cape Town’s most vulnerable communities.
