WC police intensify efforts to root out gang violence

CAPE TOWN - Just over 86 percent of gang-related murders in South Africa recorded during the first quarter of this financial year occurred in the Western Cape.

Provincial police bosses have highlighted that despite a reduction in the region’s overall murder rate, for the period from April to June 2023, gang killings, and violence, remain a huge concern.

In light of this, the South African Police Service has renewed its focus on rooting out the origins of these and other crimes

Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile says they are making inroads and have confiscated more than 1,600 firearms and over 92,000 rounds of ammunition since January.

Patekile however emphasises that police are collaborating with other law enforcement agencies, as well as residents, to rid communities of gangsterism.

Residents are looking to authorities to intervene and save them from the grips of violent crime.

But with years of living under such dangerous conditions, they're skeptical of a noticeable difference anytime soon.

* eNCA's Kevin Brandt reports.