Fear in the Cape Flats

What can the government do differently in order to decrease the onslaught of crime in the Cape Flats areas? The public gave a variety of answers that they thought were the solutions to the increase of violence in the surrounding communities, and just how the government could combat this issue effectively.

Parliament's portfolio committee on police called for the increased visibility of officers on South Africa's streets, especially in crime hot spot areas, in the wake of the murder of 13 people in Cape Town's sprawling Philippi township at the weekend.

The killings are the cause of a complex socio-economic problem requiring an urgent and multifaceted approach, the committee's chairwoman Tina Joemat-Pettersson said in a statement decrying the country's escalating murder rate.

SAPS must move with speed to implement the promise made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in his recent state of the nation address to increase visibility, she said. Furthermore, SAPS must strengthen the strategies intended to fight the proliferation of illegal guns, Joemat-Pettersson added.

By: Aneeqa du Plessis

Here's what the public had to say on this issue: