Dear Editor
In a reply to my Parliamentary Question, it has been revealed that the police-to-population ratio for the Cape Town metropolitan area is significantly below the national average. More than 75% of police stations in the City have less police officers per number of residents than the norm across South Africa.
The national police-to-population ratio is 1 officer for every 358 people (in 2014/15). 75% of Cape Town’s police stations have less numbers of officers serving their communities than the national average, with an average ratio for Cape Town of 1 police officer for every 439 people and 21 police stations in Cape Town have less than 1 officer for every 500 residents of that precinct.
What is concerning is that many of the stations with the worst police-to-population ratios are in severely crime affected communities which need police resources the most.
Areas which have some of the worst ratios are:
- Harare 826:1
- Nyanga 754:1
- Delft 706:1
- Lwandle 703:1
- Kraaifontein 702:1
- Grassy Park 643:1
- Gugulethu 643:1
- Strandfontein 635:1
- Table View 603:1
- Mfuleni 598:1
- Kleinvlei 593:1
- Belhar 581:1
- Durbanville569:1
- Khayelitsha 569:1
- Ocean View 553
- Manenberg 541:1
- Lansdowne 540:1
- Dieprivier 532:1
- Steenberg 519:1
- Hout Bay 506:1
- Muizenberg 502:1
These numbers paint a concerning picture of the under-resourcing of the SAPS in Cape Town. This makes it very difficult for police officers to deal with the serious crime challenges we are facing, especially gang violence. While under-resourcing has a negative impact on crime and on the safety of citizens in general.
Because SAPS is a national government function, and provinces and provincial parliaments have no control over policing, the Western Cape Parliament has taken this matter up repeatedly with the National Commissioner and will continue to take steps to ensure that our police stations are properly resourced.
The DA in the Western Cape is constantly pushing the National Government to provide SAPS with the necessary resources to combat crime in the Western Cape. We believe that the safety of our residents is of utmost concern.
Every citizen of South Africa deserves to live in a society free of the fear of crime no- matter where they live. In order to achieve this, police management must address the severe under-resourcing in Cape Town immediately, before crime gets worse.
Regards
Mireille Wenger MPP
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Community Safety
