Single province sees 63 child murders in five months

Sixty-three child murders were recorded over a period of five months in the Western Cape, according to the South African Police Service (SAPS), with gang violence being the cause of many of these killings.

This was reported by the Democratic Alliance Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP), Wendy Kaizer-Philander, who was briefed by the province’s Department of Social Development and SAPS on Tuesday.

Kaizer-Philander said that the police statistics show that the highest number of incidents occurred in gang-afflicted areas.

These include Kraaifontein (11.1%), Philippi East (7.9%), Delft (6.3%), Nyanga (6.3%), and Mfuleni (6.3%), all of which fall within the City of Cape Town’s jurisdiction.

“The DA is deeply concerned about the prevalence of violence directed at children, and the role that gangs and organised crime continues to play in perpetuating these acts of brutality,” Kaizer Philander said.

“These killings are not random — they are a direct symptom of communities held hostage by criminal networks, where children are often caught in crossfires or deliberately targeted to send a message.”

The MPP added that 557 children were killed between 2022 and 2024 as a result of violent crime. Two hundred and ninety-seven of these murders took place in 2024.

She said that the killing of children aged 10 to 14 years was of particular concern as this figure rose from 24 in 2023 to 32 in 2024.

On the other hand, the deaths of children aged 15 to 19 years decreased from 143 in 2023 to 136 in 2024. Despite this, the numbers remain “unacceptably high.”

Kaizer-Philander commended the Department and SAPS for their multi-sectoral and data-driven responses. 

However, she said they must intensify these interventions and ensure they are sufficiently funded and better coordinated.

Therefore, the DA has called on the government to bolster its partnership with the province to crack down on the crimes that are the root causes of the crises.

These include increasing visible policing and intelligence-led operations in high-risk areas, expanded social services for children and youth, community-based gang prevention, and strengthening the criminal justice system.

Calls for commissioner to quit

Gang violence continues to rock parts of Cape Town, with many accusing Western Cape Police Commissioner Thembisile Patekile of losing touch with the severity of the violence occurring.

On Tuesday, EWN reported that the Cape Flats Safety Forum has called for Patekile to step down from his position after 19 illegal firearms were recovered in Mitchells Plain on Monday.

“We have heard what the Provincial Commissioner is saying that there has been limited gun violence over the weekend. I think the Provincial Commissioner has lost touch with the reality of what’s happening on the ground,’’ the forum’s chairperson, Abie Isaacs, said.

“Therefore, as the Cape Flats Safety Forum, we’re starting to align ourselves with other formations calling for the Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape to resign.”

Cape Town has also been the scene of several mass shootings of late, killing 30 people over the past two months.

These include an incident in Gugulethu, leaving seven people dead and another in late August, where four people were shot in Philippi East.

Police say that many of these murders are caused by conflict within gangs and the prevalence of illegal weapons.

More recently, three DA Members of Parliament (MPs) were attacked in Philippi following an oversight visit to the police training college in the area.

While Ian Cameron, chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, and Lisa Schickerling sustained minor injuries, David Gotsel was hospitalised after a brick penetrated the windscreen of the car they were travelling in and struck his head.

Cameron said that it was thanks to his acting in self-defence with his firearm that they were able to escape their attackers.