The City of Cape Town demonstrated its new crime-fighting aerial surveillance technology at the Traffic Management Centre in Goodwood. On hand to observe were Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, and Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security JP Smith.
Image: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers
OPPOSITION parties have questioned why the DA-led City continues to pour millions into reactive policing rather than focusing on prevention after mayco member for Safety and Security, JP Smith, boasted that Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis would be tabling a draft budget with "the largest investment into the safety and security directorate since the establishment of LEAP (Law Enforcement Advancement Plan)”.
The parties said despite costly initiatives year on year, crime levels remain persistently high, raising doubts about the effectiveness of the City's approach.
Half of the ten police stations that recorded the most murders in South Africa were located in Cape Town, according to the second quarter 2024/2025 crime statistics.
Smith posted on social media that: “Following the success of LEAP and Project 1000, the City is now ready to take it to the next level. The Mayor will be tabling the Draft Budget for 2025/26 at the Council meeting, which includes a huge investment in Safety and Security. Here's what we propose for inclusion in the draft budget, dedicated Metro Police Area Teams, additional deployment will focus on the N2 and surroundings as a major arterial road, prioritising commuter safety. Investing in more uniformed, armed enforcement staff with policing powers. From protecting community facilities to escorting and safeguarding contractors while performing vital service delivery functions, these enforcement units will ensure our progress never stands still.
“The City is establishing its own Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team to take the battle to violent criminals. This expands our existing Tactical Response Unit. We are serious in our fight against gangsterism and organised crime.”
GOOD councillor, Jonathan Cupido said for years, the City’s politicians have used the likes of ShotSpotter, drones and LEAP officers to paint a picture that technology and boots on the ground are bringing about peace in gang-riddled areas, “but what has become clear is that these expensive innovations have had very little impact on the City’s crime statistics”.
“In the most recent Crime Stats (Oct 2024 – Dec 2024), Cape Town is home to the Top Station for Murder (Mfuleni), the Top Station for Contact Crime (Mfuleni), the Top Station for Serious Crime (Cape Town Central). Additionally, the Western Cape has the most gang-related murders, 263 in this quarter alone. Yes, we need efficient law enforcement, but we also need to address the root cause of crime,” he said.
Cupido maintained that you cannot “police your way out of deep-rooted issues like poverty, unemployment, and gang violence”.
National Coloured Congress (NCC) leader, Fadiel Adams added: “They’re going to spend more again, they’ve spent more before, the death toll still rises. If they can’t handle what they have, what are they going to do with more money? This is why JP Smith must leave his office because (his) irresponsibility is killing the children on the Cape Flats. If they are serious about the living conditions of the poor people on the Cape Flats they’d invest in social development, they’d invest in housing, they’d invest in doing away with apartheid spatial planning. Those are the things that drive crime, gang wars, drugs, GBV.”
Approached for further comment, Smith referred the Cape Times to a previous statement on plans for the 2025/26 financial year for more boots on the ground, with a budget allocation of at least R94 million, including nearly R21 million for the expansion of a SWAT Specialised Services unit to “perform medium to high risk operations targeting gang violence and firearm crime as well as public violence and disorder incidents”, R5 million for repairs and maintenance to Directorate facilities, plus a further R3 million to pilot a CCTV analytics project that will help make the camera network “better and faster”, among others.
“Please note that the City’s Safety and Security Directorate proposal (draft budget) for the new financial year is part of the City's draft budget which will be tabled at (this) week’s council meeting after which the draft budget will follow a public participation process,” Smith said.
Cape Times