Image Source: Action SA
Western Cape – Communities across South Africa, particularly in the Western Cape, are grappling with the harsh realities of daily shootings, criminality, and gangsterism. The situation in Hanover Park is dire, with residents living in constant fear, confined to their homes due to the unpredictable nature of gang-related violence.
Despite the intensified policing efforts and the deployment of sophisticated crime detection technologies, Yaseen Johaar from the Hanover Park Community Policing Forum (CPF) asserts that these measures have not succeeded in curbing crime or improving residents’ safety.
He argues that crime in the area is not just a policing issue but deeply connected to broader socioeconomic challenges. Without addressing underlying issues like unemployment, school dropouts, and the lack of opportunities for young people, efforts to curb gang and gun violence will fall short.
“I believe that when we are looking at gang violence and the drug situation within the Western Cape … we can’t just look at that as the main issue. We can’t say this is the issue we need to now apprehend these criminals. The analogy I want to use is that if you’re going to look at it like that, it’s as if you’re just going to plaster a wound. Still, you’re not going to look at the reasons why that wound was created in the first place.”
“The latest I’ve seen is that the response from the Department of Community Policing and Safety Oversight is that they’re now going to double up boots on the ground with regards to law enforcement. I still don’t believe that is the solution, and I’m sure there are many out there who agree. The Western Cape is unique in the sense that there are many crime fighters with years and years of experience from back in the apartheid years and who are still doing amazing work.”
“[But when] you’re still having the issues of social ills within the community, you can double up policing, and you can get the best technology, but the circumstances within our struggling communities are that unemployment is high, teenage pregnancies are high, and teenage dropouts are high. If you’re not going to address that, you’re always going to have a mechanism that is feeding gang violence, that is feeding criminals or people to become criminals.”
Johaar also voiced concerns about the apparent need for more political will in the Western Cape to effectively address the wave of violent crime affecting many communities. He pointed out that despite significant investments in crime-fighting strategies, the lack of tangible results suggests these efforts are more about optics than creating lasting change.
“If you’re looking at Hanover Park specifically, you’re looking at the ShotSpotter acoustic technology, a mic system that detects gunshots being fired that is rented from overseas. Despite it costing 20 million over a three or four-year period, the crime situation has not changed.”
“On top of that, you have this airplane buzzing over our heads, costing another couple of million as an “eye in the sky.” Hanover Park also has CCTV cameras, coupled with 60 LEAP officers. So you’re having all this, and despite that, you’re still seeing either an increase or consistent crime throughout the entire year.”
As such Johaar questioned the rationale behind spending millions on high-tech systems that have done little to reduce the daily shootings and murders in the community. He argued the funds would be better spent tackling the root causes of violence—through better education, job creation, and social support.
Without meaningful investment in these areas, he believes that the community remains trapped in a cycle of violence, and the costly technologies merely serve as temporary solutions rather than addressing the more profound, long-term issues.
