South Africa: 'No Proper Plan in Cape Town to Deal With Gang Violence,' Says Firoz Cachalia

9 September 2025
Daily Maverick (Johannesburg)
By Vincent Cruywagen

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia says enhanced policing is needed to combat gang-related crime, which is spiralling out of control.

Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia says enhanced policing is needed to combat gang-related crime, which is spiralling out of control.

On Tuesday, 9 September, the acting minister of police, Firoz Cachalia, said the intelligence-driven capabilities needed to combat gang violence and organised crime in Cape Town were still not fully in place.

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Cachalia, joined by Deputy Justice Minister Andries Nel, Deputy Police Minister Polly Boshielo and National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, was speaking after meeting with stakeholders in Mitchells Plain and Mfuleni, two Cape Town areas that suffer from high levels of gang-related crime.

The engagements formed part of the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster's drive to roll out practical, community-led interventions against gang violence, strengthen interdepartmental cooperation and build lasting partnerships with affected communities.

Residents in Mitchells Plain and Mfuleni shared their fears and trauma from living under relentless gang violence, with rival groups showing no sign of retreat. Community members highlighted rising murder rates, gender-based violence, the spread of illegal firearms, housebreakings and allegations of police corruption as their most pressing concerns.

In Mfuleni, 64-year-old grandmother Chairmaine Hartnick pleaded: "Minister, I'm tired of coming to graveyards and watching our young children being buried. Please do something...

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