Police Oversight and Community Safety
In the light of the recent brutal murders on the Cape Flats during the school holidays:
- Whether there is a safety plan that takes into consideration that school children are at home during the holiday and that ensures that they are safe; if so, what are the relevant details.
- How many murders have taken place on the Cape Flats since the start of the June school holiday?
- The Western Cape Safety Plan 2025–2030 explicitly recognises the heightened risks faced by learners during school holiday periods, when the absence of structured supervision can increase their exposure to harm. To mitigate these risks, the plan commits to a range of targeted interventions that aim to keep children safe and positively engaged when schools are closed. These include dedicated after-school and holiday programmes that build leadership and life skills, youth diversion initiatives, and the expansion of the work of community-based safety structures like Neighbourhood Watches, Area-Based Teams, and Community Safety Forums. By creating safe spaces and strengthening community support, the plan ensures that school holidays become opportunities for development rather than vulnerability.
Of the multiple stakeholders involved in working towards ensuring child safety, the WCED and DECAS provide key interventions, as presented below:
WCED
The safety of learners remains a top priority. The WCED is acutely aware that during school holidays, many young people are more vulnerable to the dangers present in their communities. To help mitigate this, the WCED collaborates closely with other departments, law enforcement agencies and civil society organisations to promote safer environments for children during these periods.
The Safe Schools Programme continues to support schools and communities even during the holidays. This includes:
- Operating the Safe Schools Call Centre (0800 45 46 47) which is available from 07h30 to 16h00 (Monday to Friday) and redirect after hours callers to the appropriate emergency services to offer assistance, counselling or to report safety concerns.
- Coordinating with NGOs and community partners to run holiday programmes at selected schools, particularly in areas identified as high-risk. These programmes provide learners with structured and supervised activities during the holiday periods.
- Engaging with law enforcement agencies, including SAPS and City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement unit to address security risks affecting schools and surrounding communities.
DECAS
During the school holidays, the MOD Programme implements a range of structured activities that aim to provide safe, supportive, and engaging spaces for learners, particularly in ABT hotspots and gang-priority areas.
Some of the interventions that were implemented include:
- Holiday Programmes at MOD Centres and Community Centres: These programmes offer daily sport and recreation activities, life skills sessions, and creative arts to keep learners positively engaged. The sessions are designed to promote teamwork, discipline, and personal development.
- Collaborations with Stakeholders: The MOD Programme works closely with community organisations, the WCED, SAPS, and local municipalities to extend the reach and impact of holiday programmes, especially in areas where youth are at high risk of exposure to violence or substance abuse.
- Safe Spaces: By operating in school-based MOD Centres, located in vulnerable communities, we create safe environments where learners can participate in meaningful activities during the day, thus reducing the chances of becoming involved in risky behaviours.
- Nutrition Support: The programme also supports feeding initiatives, in collaboration with the Peninsula School Feeding Association (PSFA) and WCED, by ensuring that children who attend the holiday programme receive meals.
- Targeted Activities in Gang-Affected Areas: In gang-priority areas, the programme is tailored to include mentorship, trauma-informed approaches, and targeted outreach that responds to the specific challenges faced by youth in those communities.
The MOD Programme’s holiday initiatives are a key part of the Department’s preventative strategy to address social ills and promote positive youth development in the Western Cape. The holiday programme ran from 30 June to 11 July 2025.
Departments such as DSD and the DoHW also provides critical social and developmental support to learners during school holidays, primarily through family-strengthening programmes, participation in holiday activities, and partnerships with other departments to deliver safe, structured alternatives for vulnerable children and youth.
Overall, such interventions provide structured, pro-social alternatives to keep children safe, supported, and meaningfully engaged when they are not in school.
- Homicide in the 11 Gang Priority Areas in the Western Cape between 27 June 2025 and 12 July 2025:
Between 29 June and 12 July 2025 during the first two weeks of the winter school holidays, 194 homicides were recorded, according to Forensic Pathology Services Mortuary Data from the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness. This equates to an average of nearly 14 homicides per day. Of these, 52 occurred in the 11 identified priority gang stations, most of which are located on the Cape Flats. Mitchells Plain and Bishop Lavis were particularly affected, recording 15 and 12 homicides respectively, including several incidents involving multiple victims. These figures highlight the continued concentration of violence in gang-affected areas, particularly during school holiday periods and has prompted the WCG to deploy further boots on the ground to support SAPS in these areas.
