Cape Crime Crisis Coalition calls for commission of inquiry into gang violence in SA
The coalition is urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle gang violence in affected communities throughout the country.
FILE: Scores of Cape Town residents joined a mass prayer on 8 December 2024 calling for a stop to the killing of people by gangsters. Picture: Eyewitness News
CAPE TOWN - The Cape Crime Crisis Coalition is calling for a national commission of inquiry into gang violence in South Africa.
As gang violence continues in areas throughout the Western Cape, the coalition insists that gangsterism is not only a Western Cape problem, it is a national security crisis.
The coalition is urging President Cyril Ramaphosa to tackle gang violence in affected communities throughout the country.
Cape Crime Crisis Coalition chairperson, Llewelyn MacMaster, said that gang violence was a national emergency which had been ignored for too long.
Crime statistics for the third quarter of the year show the Western Cape recorded the highest number of gang-related murders, with 263 counts reported.
MacMaster said there were other provinces in the country which are also riddled with gang violence.
"KwaZulu-Natal has seen a terrifying rise in brazen gang executions, with criminals operating as if they are above the law. Gauteng and the Eastern Cape are engulfed in extortion rackets, armed robberies, and gang recruitment targeting children as young as 10."
MacMaster said that the coalition was consulting with a wide range of civil society organisations to support its call for a commission of inquiry.