Four Cape Town areas equipped with gunshot detection technology are proving their worth in the fight against illegal firearms.
Between April and June this year, these ShotSpotter zones – Manenberg, Hanover Park, Nyanga and Steenberg – accounted for more than half of all guns recovered by City enforcement teams.
City Law Enforcement and Metro Police confiscated 57 firearms across Cape Town during this three-month period. Of these, 31 guns came from the four ShotSpotter areas – that’s 54% of the total haul.
Technology
The technology zones also yielded 18 imitation and homemade firearms, plus 467 rounds of ammunition. City-wide, officers seized 34 fake and homemade weapons and 644 rounds of ammo.
The City’s latest data shows ShotSpotter is helping police work smarter, not just harder. “The data underpins the value of the gunshot detection technology which enables more frequent, rapid, and precise responses,” the City said in a statement.
The system reveals when and where gunfire is most likely – helping stretched law enforcement resources target the right areas at the right times. Over the past financial year (July 2024 to June 2025), ShotSpotter recorded 3 893 alerts with 9 223 rounds fired – a 30% drop from the previous year’s 5 770 alerts and 14 181 rounds. But the statistics reveal troubling crime hotspots. Across all four areas, 40% of gunfire happened on just 20 streets per suburb. In Lavender Hill, this figure jumped to 58%.
The City pushed back against critics who expect the technology to stop gang violence entirely. “The narrative that gunshot detection technology can, or should directly prevent gang violence is both unrealistic and counterproductive,” the statement read. “ShotSpotter cannot stop a person from pulling a trigger any more than a fire detector can stop a fire from igniting. What it does provide is awareness.”
One tool
City officials stressed that gunshot detection is just one tool in a much larger safety strategy, alongside proactive policing, crime prevention, social development programmes and job creation. But they took aim at critics who focus on ShotSpotter while ignoring bigger systemic failures.
The City called out national law enforcement agencies, asking what they’re doing to:
– Stop the flow of illegal guns onto Cape Town’s streets
– Speed up ballistics and DNA testing for investigations
– Fill critical detective vacancies so firearm cases can be properly investigated
“All the while, the City’s offers of assistance and repeated calls for increased policing powers to help address the scourge continue to be met with silence,” the statement concluded.
