– Violent crime is increasingly rife across the Northern Cape.
– Policing alone cannot combat crime or make communities safe.
– A targeted Safe Communities Programme must tackle both crime and municipal failures.
The Democratic Alliance is calling on Northern Cape municipalities, SAPS and the provincial government to work together on a targeted Safe Communities Programme that addresses both crime and the underlying factors that allow it to flourish.
This comes amid growing concern about continuing reports of violent crime across the Northern Cape and the conditions under which many of these crimes are taking place.
This month, reports of murders in the province have been harrowing. In Kimberley, a 62-year-old man was stabbed to death in Kenilworth after intervening when a woman sought help. In the Kimberley Central Business District (CBD), a woman’s body was found in an abandoned building in Baillie Street, while an attempted murder was reported in the same area. In Kuruman, a taxi driver was shot during an alleged attempted hijacking, while a truck driver was fatally stabbed in a separate incident. In Postmasburg, a schoolboy was stabbed, raising further concerns about the safety of children in our communities.
SAPS has a fundamental responsibility to prevent and investigate crime, and the Northern Cape Police Commissioner has herself described the province’s recent policing performance as “unsatisfactory”, calling for greater accountability and improved police visibility.
Crime, however, does not happen in a vacuum and policing cannot carry this responsibility alone.
Municipal service delivery failures are contributing to unsafe environments. Broken streetlights, abandoned buildings, illegal dumping, overgrown areas, vandalised infrastructure and neglected public spaces all create environments where residents feel vulnerable and give criminals more opportunity to operate.
An abandoned building in the Kimberley CBD is not just an urban management problem. When such buildings are left unsecured, they become a public safety concern. The same applies to a streetlight that remains broken in a known crime hotspot.
This is why it is so important for increased cooperation between SAPS, municipalities, provincial government, Community Policing Forums (CPFs) and neighbourhood watches, to make communities safer for residents, while making it harder for criminals to operate, evade authorities and terrorise communities.
This must be a full-scale push against crime, with municipalities urgently repairing broken streetlights, securing abandoned buildings, clearing neglected public spaces and removing places where criminals can hide. SAPS must also increase its visibility in identified hotspots, particularly after hours. Where these safety interventions are identified but not implemented, there must be clear accountability and consequences for those responsible.
We cannot police our way out of crime while ignoring the impact of urban decay on crime and community safety.
The people of the Northern Cape deserve to walk their streets without fear. They deserve functioning municipal services, visible policing and a government that acts before another family becomes a victim.
The DA will continue to use our oversight responsibilities to hold SAPS and municipalities accountable for creating safer communities.