CAPE TOWN – Despite ongoing gang-related shootings in Kensington, police say they are making steady progress in efforts to restore stability to the area.
Officers remain confident that intensified operations and targeted interventions are beginning to yield results.
This month alone, members confiscated four firearms during crime-driven operations.
According to Brigadier Mkhuseli Nkwitshi, commander of the Cape Town Subdistrict, Kensington Police Station was identified as a gang hotspot during the second-quarter crime statistics released last year.
Nkwitshi said in the Western Cape there are 26 gang hotspot stations, four of these fall within the Cape Town Subdistrict, which he oversees.
They are Kensington, Woodstock, Hout Bay and Atlantis.
“We have support from provincial police which include members from Operation Shanela and Operation Lockdown that have been deployed at these stations to curb the gang violence.
“As the subdistrict we also have crime intelligence capacity that feeds information to stations like Kensington. Kensington one of the stations with highest number of recovery of firearms,” explained Nkwitshi.
Kensington Police station commander, Lt Col Nkosinathi Losini, believes police are winning the fight against crime in the area.
“We found that gangs are coming from other areas to provide backup for gangs in this community. But we can proudly say that we are winning because every time there’s shootings reported we confiscate firearms.”
SANDF Deployment
Nkwitshi said the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will strengthen police efforts to combat violent crime.
President Cyril Ramaphosa announced earlier this year that members of the SANDF would be deployed to support the police in addressing gang violence and illicit mining at identified crime hotspots.
Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais, said in a recent press statement that provincial police had indicated that SANDF members could be deployed in the Western Cape by Wednesday 1 April.
Nkwitshi said: “The deployment of the SANDF will help because they will be a force multiplier. Currently, at this station, there is minimal deployment which makes it difficult for police members to do operations. Once you do stop-and-searches you need to have another group watching that they are safe.”
He urged residents to support police by reporting suspicious activities.
Marais emphasised that while increased visibility of law enforcement is important in stabilising communities, this deployment must go far beyond a “show of force”.
“This intervention must be collaborative, intelligence-led, data-driven, and operationally focused. We need coordinated plans that will actively dismantle criminal networks, gangs, and extortion groupings that continue to terrorise our communities.”
Marais urged police to ensure that operations lead not only to arrests but also to successful prosecutions.
