Premier, Alan Winde, and MEC Reagen Allen share concerns over Court Watching Brief unit

Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, and MEC for Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, provided a breakdown of the latest statistics from the Court Watching Brief Unit. These cover the first quarter, of the 2023/24 financial year, April to June 2023.

During the media briefing held on Tuesday, 10 October MEC Reagan Allen said the CBW monitored eight courts over the specified period, covering 21 police stations. The courts include Khayelitsha, Bluedowns, and Phillipi. Sixty-three court cases in the province have been scrapped from the court roll due to police inefficiencies.

Reagan Allen said that the findings for the first quarter show that Kraaifontein police station had the highest number of cases struck from the roll, at eight.

The MEC described one of the reasons for scrapping cases as incomplete investigations. He said that this is unacceptable, as everyone should experience the same quality of service from SAPS, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

“It is clear there are simply not enough police officers deployed to the Western Cape to make a meaningful enough impact on crime levels. Our approach to fighting crime must be data and evidence-driven. However, we are also addressing the root causes of crime, namely unemployment,” said MEC Allen.

The CBW approach has been shared with other provinces however; they have not implemented it yet.

Premier Alan Winde stated that while it is very concerning that cases stemming from serious offences such as GBV are not being dealt with properly in some courts, he is aware of the immense strain police officers are under. However, the problem needs to be resolved.

 

Done by: Esona Mfazwe