South Africa's Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has said that the security forces are not yet able to defeat deadly criminal gangs, in a stark admission that underscores the scale of the country's crime crisis.
Gang violence, alongside robberies, accounts for many murders in South Africa, which has one of the world's highest homicide rates.
Cachalia said gang violence had become increasingly complex, especially in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, requiring new strategies beyond traditional policing.
I do not believe that we are currently in a position to defeat these gangs, the minister told journalists on Wednesday.
South Africa, the continent's most industrialised nation, has long struggled with entrenched organised crime. Many people in South Africa own licensed firearms for personal protection, but there are many more illegal guns in circulation.
Police data shows that an average of 63 people were killed each day between April and September last year.
Speaking after his visit to crime-infested Nelson Mandela Bay in Eastern Cape, Cachalia noted the alarming trend of gangs engaging in a killing spree in both major provinces.
Despite the establishment of an anti-gang unit in 2019, it appears that criminal activity is on the rise. Establishing gang units from time to time is an ad hoc response to a growing problem, Cachalia stated.
His visit follows a grim period, with 118 people reported killed in Nelson Mandela Bay between August and December of last year, a disturbing indicator of the escalating violence.
In January alone, around 40 killings were reported in the region, adding urgency to the call for improved law enforcement strategies. President Cyril Ramaphosa has pledged stronger action to combat gang-related violence throughout the nation.
