CAPE TOWN – Police Minister Professor Firoz Cachalia has announced that Mfuleni will soon have its own police station, following a meeting with Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis this week.
The move comes after community engagements in Mitchells Plain and Mfuleni, where residents raised concerns about crime and the lack of adequate policing. Currently, Mfuleni is served from Blue Downs police station, which residents say does not meet the needs of the growing population.
To address this, the City of Cape Town has made 380 square metres of office space available in a municipal building in Mfuleni. This will serve as an interim police station while plans are developed for a permanent facility on an adjoining erf, which the City has also offered for construction.
Cachalia welcomed the agreement as an example of cooperative governance. “The fight against crime requires urgency, coordination, and accountability. Most importantly, it requires that we listen to communities and act on the concerns they raise,” he said.
Hill-Lewis said the lease would be finalised with the Department of Public Works, with SAPS only covering water and electricity costs. “This is a very hard-hit area and crime must urgently be brought under control to make the community safer,” he said.
Meanwhile, debate continues over how best to respond to the province’s gang crisis. In the Western Cape Provincial Parliament this week, GOOD Secretary-General Brett Herron said policing alone would not solve the problem.
Citing the latest Western Cape Gang Monitor, which showed gang-related murders more than doubling from 422 in 2020 to 872 in 2024, Herron argued that the root causes of crime also needed urgent attention. “If we leave it to the police to wage war against gangs, the war will continuously be lost,” he said, calling for greater focus on education, social development and community support.
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