Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz paid an urgent visit to Mitchells Plain SAPS following mass shootings that took place over the weekend.
Minister Fritz, along with Councillor Solly Philander visited the Mitchells Plain SAPS office to conduct oversight on their efforts to curb the ensuing gang violence in surrounding communities.
“In line with my constitutional mandate of conducting oversight over policing in the Western Cape, I visited the Mitchells Plain SAPS where I met with SAPS officials and discussed their plan to put a stop to the widespread shootings in Mitchells Plain,” Fritz said in a statement.
Minister Fritz also went on to thank Mitchells Plain SAPS for their tireless efforts in fighting local crime but urged them to, ‘leave no stone unturned’ when conducting investigations, and ensure that guilty parties are arrested and convicted.
Minister Fritz and Philander also paid a visit to some of the families of the deceased and injured. Following their visit to the affected families, Minister Fritz noted that the community as a whole has been deeply traumatized by this most recent spate of shootings, and has committed to assist those affected families with information and support where needed.
In terms of how he plans on combatting gang violence, Minister Fritz confirmed that The Department of Community Safety will be expediting the rollout of additional law enforcement and violence prevention efforts through the establishment of Area Based Teams (ABT) in communities most affected by violent crime.
“Mitchells Plain will be included in the second phase of ABT rollouts and will temporarily have a deployment of LEAP (Law Enforcement Advancement Plan) law enforcement officers, which we hope to make permanent,” Fritz said in a statement.
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