In a stark admission that underscores the scale of SA’s crime crisis, acting police minister Ghaleb Cachalia has conceded that law enforcement is not yet in a position to defeat criminal gangs in the Eastern and Western Cape.
Cachalia acknowledged that gang activity remained a growing challenge and said that despite ongoing arrests, the problem could not be decisively addressed through ad hoc gang units alone.
He was speaking on Wednesday during a media briefing at the Gqeberha City Hall following a stakeholder engagement forum focused on crime in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The forum was attended by civic and church leaders, along with community policing forums.
They are on a killing spree in the Western Cape. There is a similar pattern in the Eastern Cape
— Police minister Ghaleb Cachalia
Linking gangs to growing organised crime, Cachalia said it was a problem police had yet to meet or tackle in the two provinces.
“The [resourcing] of anti-gang units is an issue. It was raised by the Western Cape.
“I have indicated that I think the challenge of dealing with organised crime in the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape is a challenge that we still have to meet.
“I do not believe that we are currently in a position to defeat these gangs.
“They are on a killing spree in the Western Cape. There is a similar pattern in the Eastern Cape,” he said.
“Establishing gang units from time to time is an ad hoc response to a growing problem.
“I am waiting for the strategy that the police are working on to be presented to me.
“At this stage, I think that we are doing our best.
“We are responding. We are making arrests. We are doing drug busts.
“But the problem is a growing one. That is my view,” he said.
DA MPL Retief Odendaal called for the establishment of specialised gang units in a letter to Cachalia ahead of his visit to the city.
Odendaal highlighted how arrests in the spate of kidnappings that gripped the city in 2025 were made possible with the assistance of the private sector.
Cachalia, meanwhile, called for further commitment to the co-operation agreement launched by suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu in 2024.
“Today’s meeting was part of the effort to assess what progress has been made, where the gaps are, and to commit them to an ongoing process of oversight, monitoring and evaluation of that agreement.
“I am hoping it will be supplemented and augmented by station-level precinct agreements negotiated at the station level that should also be part of the work that the civilian secretariat, both at the provincial level and national level, does to monitor.
“And I did indicate in the meeting that I believe that approach might well have a significant impact on the levels of crime,” he said.
He said the agreement should be strengthened through station-level precinct agreements negotiated at a local level.
“I am hoping this will be supplemented and augmented by precinct agreements negotiated at the station level, which should also form part of the work of the civilian secretariat, both provincially and nationally, to monitor implementation.
“I believe that approach could have a significant impact on crime levels,” he said.
The last time the minister of police was here, the National Intervention Unit was deployed, and several cases were uncovered
— Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe
Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Babalwa Lobishe said the implementation of the agreement had already yielded positive results.
“The last time the minister of police was here, the National Intervention Unit was deployed, and several cases were uncovered,” Lobishe said.
“Our collaboration has delivered results, but the challenge remains increasing human resources, whether through the Metro Police or the SAPS.”
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