Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC, Reagen Allen, is concerned about gun and gang-related violence in the province.
Gun violence remains a problem in the Western Cape – with regular police reports about shooting incidents in various communities.
Several shootings were reported in different areas in Cape Town over the Easter long weekend.
A police officer was shot dead during an alleged hijacking in Delft South on Friday.
In another gun attack – a 12-year-old girl was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in gang-plagued Hanover Park.
She was wounded and taken to hospital.
In another shooting incident in Gordon’s Bay, during a shop robbery, two men came under fire.
One of the men died, while the other sustained gunshot wounds.
And last week, five people were killed and five others were wounded in a mass shooting in Imizamo Yethu in Hout Bay.
Allen says gun violence is a crisis in the Metro.
“In the Western Cape, it’s very clear that violence and gang-related activities are the crisis point. We can confirm that over 50% of all murder cases in our cases in our province are the result of a firearm. So we definitely see this in the gang environment, within the drug trade, and there’s a crisis in that regard”.
Allen is hopeful though, that initiatives that they have implemented will address these constant threats.
“ As the Western Cape Government together with the City of Cape Town, we consistently showed that we prioritize safety. In addition, the budget attached to safety speaks for itself. And it is against the backdrop of our province which is severely under-resourced. Also, our policing needs and priorities are not being taken into account”.
Picture: Supplied
