Western Cape Government is on track to deploy 250 additional LEAP officers by 1 July 2021
Today, I visited the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan or LEAP law enforcement officers who were deployed through the Western Cape Safety Plan to Mitchells Plain in March 2021.
Going forward, the Western Cape Government will be deploying 250 additional officers by 1 July, ensuring that we meet our target of deploying 1000 officers to Gugulethu, Kraaifontein, Mfuleni, and Harare by October 2021.
When engaging with residents during the walkabout with LEAP officers in Mitchells Plain today, I was informed that our LEAP officers are making residents in Mitchells Plain feel safer.
I was joined by the Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, and the Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith, who also remarked on the difference that our officers are making.
On 19 September 2019, the Western Cape Government launched the Western Cape Safety Plan to halve the murder rate over the next 10 years.
I committed the Provincial Government to achieve this through a combination of violence prevention and law enforcement interventions. The Western Cape Safety Plan has since been incorporated into the “Safety” priority of the Western Cape Recovery Plan.
Nearly one and a half years later and we have made steady progress in implementing the Safety Plan through the deployment of LEAP officers, deploying Youth Safety Ambassadors, establishing Area Based Teams or ABTs and amending the Western Cape Liquor Act.
In February 2020, we held a passing out parade signalling the deployment of the first 500 law enforcement officers into our most crime afflicted communities.
In October 2020, we redeployed these officers to Nyanga, Khayelitsha, Delft, Philippi (including Hanover Park) and Bishop Lavis. In March 2021, we then deployed a new tranche of trained LEAP officers to Mitchells Plain.
I am very pleased with the significant strides our LEAP officers are making in fighting crime. Between 10 – 16 May 2021, LEAP officers made 52 arrests for charges including:
- 35 arrested for possession of drugs;
- 7 arrested for possession of dangerous weapons;
- 1 arrested for dealing drugs;
- 3 arrested for possession of an imitation firearm;
- 2 arrested for theft and possession of stolen property; and
- 1 arrest for assault
The deployment of our LEAP officers will be guided by their respective ABTs. We are making significant progress in the establishment of ABTs. To date, we have:
- Used the Provincial Department of Health’s data on homicides and assaults to guide LEAP deployment areas;
- Established a Law Enforcement Technical Working Committee which includes SAPS, the Western Cape Liquor Authority, City of Cape Town law enforcement and other security-related bodies to play an advisory on local deployments;
- Promoted closer working relationships between SAPS and City of Cape Town law enforcement on a local level;
- Established Conveners of Social Cohesion and Urban Renewal Technical Working Committees on 7 April 2021.
- Established a design and implementation group to finalize the system actor mapping of the Law Enforcement Technical teams at the six stations.
- Compiled a roll-out plan for the initial six Law Enforcement Technical Area Teams in the Cape Town Metropole starting in Bishop Lavis; and
- Began establishing ABTs in the five District Municipalities.
Speaking to the success of the Western Cape Safety Plan’s implementation overall, Minister Fritz, said: “We are really excited about the realization of the LEAP Project and boots on the ground, and this is especially important in light of the shootings that Mitchells Plain and our other communities have faced over the past weekend. We are on track to have 1000 LEAP Officers on the ground by 1 October. And this is above and beyond the mandate of a provincial government, so we must really commend the Premier for his leadership on this, and I must say it has been an absolute honour to play my own part in bringing the Western Cape to this point.”
“Of course, the work continues. Our officers have been deployed since last year, and they are making a difference. We receive weekly reports on their successes, and this means that it is now more difficult for criminals to operate. It means the risk of criminals getting caught and facing consequences for their actions is that much greater. So they are making a difference.”
“We continue to work with SAPS and the City of Cape Town in ensuring a safer Western Cape through the implemetation of our Safety Plan. We are determined to half the murder rate in the Western Cape. We are determined to see a safer Western Cape for all our citizens.”
Adding to the noticeable contributions made by LEAP, Alderman Smith said: “The City of Cape Town and the Western Cape Government will continue to work tirelessly to not only support SAPS in their mandate to reduce crime, but the City and Western Cape Government commits to finding new, impactful solutions that our communities can feel on the ground. Unfortunately, the City is experiencing increasing problems with efficacy of policing with low resources in areas such as Khayelitsha and Nyanga.”
Alderman Smith added: “We must put our communities first which is why the City and Western Cape Government developed the LEAP to ensure that the already neglected crime hotspots have some defence against crime. The crumbling criminal justice system which has a 2% conviction rate for gang violence combined with SAPS’ more recently reduced budget and the lack of modernisation in policing are a few symptoms of the dis-ease that our communities face.”
Alderman Smith continued: “LEAP is an extra step towards delivery. However, this won’t fix the entire problem – for this we need to look at the criminal justice system and get the conviction rates up. This is why the City and Western Cape Government are once again part of the solution and we are adding investigative officers to the current 6 LEAP stations to support the SAPS detectives in these stations with shadow investigations related to criminal cases and watching briefs in terms of police initiated cases.”