Statement by Nicholas Gotsell MP – DA NCOP Member on Security & Justice:
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is outraged over the Select Committee on Security and Justice failing to hold SAPS accountable for detainee escapes.
In the last year alone, 284 detainees have escaped police custody nationally and a hundred of them are still roaming the streets.
Three detainees have escaped from police custody in the Western Cape in just the last two weeks. Ill-discipline and corruption by the SAPS puts escapees back on the streets where they continue to terrorise communities.
The DA had called Western Cape Police Commissioner Lt. Gen. Patekile to committee to answer for the growing crisis of escapes on 18 February 2026. Members were not allowed to interrogate the SAPS presentation because committee chairperson Jane Mananiso of the ANC ended the meeting early to have lunch.
Patekile is now allowed to hide behind written responses instead of having to answer questions directly. The ANC doesn’t care about crime in the Western Cape or about keeping SAPS accountable. They go on lunch while dangerous detainees escape from custody and ravage communities.
Since the meeting, detainees have escaped from Wynberg Court and in Phillipi-East. In Ceres, a SAPS member is alleged to have helped a detainee accused of domestic violence escape custody.
The SAPS blames “administrative errors” and infrastructure pains. The DA refuses to accept these lame excuses and calls on SAPS to address ill-discipline and corruption within its ranks
It is unacceptable that Parliament has lunch while potential criminals escape and communities suffer. The DA will call for the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner to come back to committee and account for systemic failures in the custodial system.
This time the Committee should prioritise accountability, not lunch.
