Community safety standing committee chairperson, Reagen Allen, revealed that an average of 177 mob justice attacks were recorded per year in the Western Cape between 1 April 2018 and 31 March 2021.
According to the information provided, 65 suspects were prosecuted for the 293 charges made as this equates to a prosecution rate of 22% for this period. This means that mob justice takes place every second day.
Allen said SAPS defines “Mob Justice” as an act where a group of people take the law into their own hands to assault, humiliate, or murder an individual accused and or suspected of a crime. However, this may also occur in the form of damage to the alleged suspect’s property.
“When we witness instances of mob justice, we have to ask why trust in the police is so low and why more isn’t being done to increase confidence in the justice system.
“This presents yet another desperate call for the lead agency, nationally, to do more to protect citizens from crimes,” Allen said.
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He said the low levels of trust in the police service can also be attributed to the failures in the criminal justice system. “The prevalence of mob justice can never be acceptable, the rule of law must be supreme,” Allen added.
Allen went on to say that he has also submitted additional questions to the SAPS via the Provincial Minister of Community Safety regarding measures undertaken by the police to curb mob justice.
“Beyond this, we also need to know what steps are being taken to improve both the satisfaction and reliability of their services,” Allen expressed.
National Police Minister Bheki Cele also revealed in his crime stats report that the Western Cape province is the only province to record a decrease in its murder cases. Out of the top 30 murder stations, the Harare, Khayelitsha and Nyanga police stations in the Western Cape recorded a decrease in their murder figures.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc gallery
