In October 2022, a judge warned that 28s gangsters may have infiltrated the Western Cape's police and its management. While gang violence rages in the province, it is still not clear what has happened with investigations into that judgment.

More than a year ago, Judge Daniel Thulare sounded the alarm -- in an unprecedented Western Cape Division of the High Court judgment, he warned that 28s gangsters may have gained access to the provincial police's senior management and crimefighting plans.

A section of his 17 October 2022 judgment says: "The evidence suggests not only a capture of some lower-ranking officers in the SAPS [South African Police Service].

"The evidence suggests that the senior management of the SAPS in the province has been penetrated to the extent that the 28 gang has access to the table where the provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Western Cape sits with his senior managers and lead[s] them in the study of crime, develop[s] crime prevention strategies and decide[s] on tactics and approach to the safety and security of inhabitants of the Western Cape.

"This includes penetration of and access to the sanctity of the reports by specialised units like the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence, to the provincial commissioner."

After Daily Maverick broke the news of the judgment last year, the SAPS said it was investigating the judge's findings.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde announced that the province's police ombud, retired police...