The appointment of a new brigadier and nearly 50 additional officers is set to bolster the Western Cape Anti-Gang Unit (AGU).
Also read: Two people are killed in gang violence in the Western Cape every day
This was revealed during Western Cape police commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile’s presentations on the province’s quarterly crime statistics on Thursday.
While he did not share more details on the appointment, he did confirm that the new brigadier will start work on Monday alongside 47 additional officers. A total of 53 officers are expected to join the unit later.
The recent appointments come after Major General Andre Lincoln retired in October 2021.
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As reported by News24, the AGU was formed in November 2018 to combat violent gang-related activities and organised crime syndicates. It typically probed sensitive cases, occasionally putting fellow officers in focus, which led to distrust in certain quarters.
According to General Patekile, provincial police are making progress in addressing gangsterism in the region. The Western Cape’s murder rate increased by nearly 9% during the third quarter.
The latest statistics indicate that 1 301 people were murdered between October and December 2023, of which 1 015 (about 78%) occurred in Cape Town.
A total of 250 murders from this period were gang-related, as well as 351 cases of attempted murder and 15 cases of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
Conversely, Patekile noted several ‘successes’ such as the arrests of alleged crime bosses Ralph Stanfield and Nafiz Modack, as well as the arrests of taxi bosses Bonke Makalala and Yanga Nyalara.
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