Residents tell Cachalia crime in Mitchells Plain at crisis levels, plead for more police resources

CAPE TOWN - Mitchells Plain residents said that crime in the area had reached crisis levels and pleaded with Police Minister Firoz Cachalia for more policing resources.

Cachalia is visiting Western Cape crime hotspots this week to engage with residents and to hear the impact violence has on their lives.

Gang-related shootings have seen an increase in areas including Mitchells Plain, Atlantis, Athlone, Mfuleni, and Muizenberg in recent weeks.

The Mitchells Plain Police Station is one of the police precincts in Cape Town identified as a hotspot for gang violence.

Residents told Minister Cachalia that it's distressing to see children and the elderly ducking bullets daily due to gang-related gun violence.

Mitchells Plain anti-crime activist Lynn Philipps said they were under siege.

"We live gun violence, we eat gun violence, and we sleep gun violence in Mitchells Plain. Why don't we have specialised units at station level? Why must it only be at a district or cluster level?"

Similar engagements will be held in Mfuleni, the country's murder capital, later on Tuesday.