WC top cop Patekile concerned about impact recent spike in CT gun violence while have on crime stats

Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile says Cape Town gun violence in the past couple of months will have a negative impact on the upcoming crime statistics.

The quarterly figures, which were set to be tabled on Thursday, have been postponed indefinitely without a reason.

Between January and March 2025, several contact crime categories, including murder and attempted murder, showed a slight decline in the province.

However, there were still areas of grave concern, with gender-based violence, arson, and commercial crimes recording increases.

The province also continued to feature in the top four provinces with the highest murder rates in the country.

Patekile said they're not entirely confident in the province's crime statistics.

"But it won't be as bad for the first quarter but the worry that we have is the second quarter, where we had this flare up. But we are happy so far, up to today, with the incidents that have been reported. But we can't reverse what has happened in July and August, specifically in the gang areas."