While the national police force boasts of the strides made in the first year of Operation Shanela, anti-crime activists in Cape Town say these supposed successes are not being felt on the ground.
Since its inception on 8 May 2023, SAPS says more than half a million arrests have been made. During a media briefing on Monday, the Police Ministry noted that majority of the arrests were made for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (70 151 arrests).
Police Minister, Bheki Cele, says the success of this intervention is through the collaborative efforts. This includes working with the SANDF, the Home Affairs Department, the SARS, and other national, provincial, and metropolitan departments.
“Operation Shanela has and continues to be rolled out across the country, led by the Provincial Commissioners of each province. The Community Policing Forum and community patrollers, as well as private security have been very active in their support and are playing a crucial role in the overall success,”
But the Cape Flats Safety Forum’s Lynn Phillips says the impact of Operation Shanela are not felt on the ground.
“We don’t experience that impact of what has been highlighted. Our experience in the trenches is that we have high rate of violence and gun murders, in our communities across the Cape Flats.”
She adds that violence against women and children also remains high in these communities.
Phillips argues that arrests made do not mean successful incarceration. She says there are often instances where alleged perpetrators return to the community, after being released on bail.
Further to that, she says there’s a lacks of community voices during court proceedings of alleged criminals in the community. Phillips argues that if community representatives are at court proceedings, they have the opportunity to oppose bail.
“Then you have them roaming the street, and then once again doing the same crime.”
Phillips suggests this missing link is that CPF’s are not playing an active role. She says they are not vocal, not attending court proceedings, and are not engaging with the communities.
