Winde planning to meet Cachalia to discuss escalating gang violence, crime in WC

CAPE TOWN - Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said he will be meeting with Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia soon to discuss escalating gang violence and crime in the province.

Winde was answering questions from members of the Western Cape Provincial Legislature during "the sitting of the House" in the provincial legislature on Thursday.

The premier was questioned about a decision by national government to re-recruit former detectives to the Western Cape SAPS.

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The premier said that despite ongoing crime growth, there has been a reduction in police officer numbers in the province.

"We are now sitting at just under 13,000 police men and women in our province. When I became the premier in 2019, we had just under 20,000 active police officers in our province."

Winde said that nationally, the country was short of 8,400 detectives.

"In our province, we have 902 vacancies when it comes to detectives. So, of course, we're not going to get the convictions."

Winde said he was arranging to meet Cachalia to push for more police resources in the Western Cape.