Officers are expected to utilise limited resources ‘in the very best possible way to ensure that communities are getting the services, police management says.
Cape Town’s most crime-ridden police stations are operating with barely any resources, with some having just one operational vehicle and detectives forced to share four cellphones among 30 officers, parliament’s portfolio committee on police heard during a quarterly crime statistics briefing.
The shocking revelations emerged during questioning of South African Police Service (Saps) leadership about the country’s latest crime figures, which showed mixed results with murder rates declining slightly but rape cases continuing an alarming upward trend.
Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu released the quarterly crime statistics last week.
Crisis of lack of police resources cripples crime fighting
ActionSA MP Dereleen James, who has visited nearly 20 police stations primarily in the Western Cape, painted a stark picture of under-resourced law enforcement facilities.
“This week I visited Delft and Kent police stations. It is shocking to hear the national commissioner say that you have 30 detectives and for the 30 they only have four cell phones,” she told the committee.
James added that Delft police station, which ranks number one in the crime statistics, operates with only one vehicle.
“That is having a conventional approach for unconventional crime in these areas.”
James said when she contacted the Western Cape commissioner about the communication problems, she was told “the community is meant to call the station in order to get hold of a detective”.
However, James argued this approach is impractical given the poor infrastructure at these stations.
Police use personal phones for work
Major-General Patrick Mbotho, addressing the committee, acknowledged the telecommunications crisis facing detectives in the field.
“We acknowledge that there not many detectives have cell phones but the group commanders have cell phones,” he said, explaining that officers are expected to utilise limited resources “in the very best possible way to ensure that our communities are getting services”.
The revelation drew criticism from committee members, with concerns raised about officers using personal devices for official police work.
Meanwhile, parliamentary oversight visits have revealed that detectives are taking photographs of crime scenes and perpetrators on their personal cellphones, raising serious concerns about evidence integrity and witness protection.
The vehicle shortage compounds the communication crisis, with most police cars reportedly out of service and in garages.
National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola said that early this year, “most of our vehicles were in the garage” and that efforts are underway to establish permanent repair facilities to reduce turnaround times.
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Cape flats bears brunt of violence
The committee chair, Ian Cameron, noted the devastating violence over the past weekend, stating he had verified “just under 30 gang-related murders in a space of more or less 48 hours” on the Cape Flats.
National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams raised concerns about the concentration of understaffed police stations in the area.
“84% of all the police stations that are understaffed in this country are on the Cape Flats,” he said, questioning what Saps would do to address this critical shortage.
Adams also highlighted a linguistic barrier affecting policing effectiveness, asking why police officers who cannot speak Afrikaans are deployed to Afrikaans-speaking communities.
“If you ask me right now ‘Fadiel are you equipped to go and work in Khayelitsha?’ I’ll tell you off the bat ‘No chief I’m not. I might be able to investigate well but my communication skills are going to be a problem’,” he said.
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Mixed crime statistics mask ongoing challenges
While Saps reported a decline in murder rates, committee members expressed concern that the statistics don’t tell the full story of police performance.
Masemola presented conviction data showing that between January and March 2025, 5 871 suspects were arrested for gender-based violence related crimes, with 703 convicted and sentenced.
However, Rise Mzansi MP Stanford Makashule Gana argued that the crime statistics as presented represent only “one side of the coin” and don’t adequately demonstrate police effectiveness.
“What South Africans wants to see is that the portion the police are responsible for they are doing well,” he said.
Gang violence escalates despite anti-gang units
Despite the existence of anti-gangsterism units, gang violence continues to escalate.
MK Party MP Glen Taaibosch expressed frustration with the lack of visible progress, saying:
“I am yet to see any anything on paper that can give me comfort that these guys really know what they’re doing and with this plan, if they have a plan, with this plan they will be able to to to curb gangsterism.”
Adams warned about the volatile nature of gang violence, noting that: “There are so many moving parts relating to gang violence in the Cape Flats that if this thing flares up tomorrow we could just have our worst quarter ever.”
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Cape Flats gang violence strategy
Despite resource constraints, Saps leadership outlined new strategies to combat persistent gang violence on the Cape Flats.
Masemola announced plans to reorganise Western Cape resources to enhance the anti-gang unit with additional capacity from within the province.
“We are going to put resources together from the province of Western Cape to deal with gang violence just in a different way,” Masemola said.
“We might not reveal all the details but we are going to enhance the anti-gang unit with some extra capacity.”
Recent operations have yielded results, with more than 10 takedowns of gang leaders and members accomplished in recent days.
However, officials acknowledge the cyclical nature of gang violence, where arrests often lead to succession battles and renewed violence when members are released on parole.
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Systemic challenges require comprehensive response
The briefing highlighted systemic challenges beyond just crime statistics, including low conviction rates for firearms cases, with only 5% of over 1 600 illegal firearms seized in Cape Town in 2021 leading to convictions.
Committee members also raised concerns about substance abuse contributing to crime, particularly in the Northern Cape, and called for collaboration between Saps, social services and basic education to address root causes.
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