Western Cape grapples with over 2 000 drug houses
As the number of drug houses in the Western Cape exceeds 2,000, the DA demands immediate intervention to protect vulnerable communities.
Image: file
Just days after Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile released the fourth quarter crime statistics for 2024/25, it has been revealed that the province is home to over 2 000 drug houses.
According to DA Western Cape spokesperson on Police Oversight and Community Safety, Thomas Walters, police stated that in the past 12 months, 697 drug houses were shut down with links to organised crime, while there were 2 032 drug dens in the province.
'The Western Cape continues to face a harrowing battle against drugs and organised crime. In reply to a DA parliamentary question, the South African Police Service (SAPS) revealed that there are currently 2 032 known drug houses operating within the province,' said Walters.
'According to SAPS, in the past 12 months, 697 drug houses were shut down, a commendable but ultimately insufficient response considering the sheer scale of the problem. Of the drug houses that were closed, 629 had links to organised crime, underlining the entrenched and dangerous networks exploiting vulnerable communities.'
Walters said the numbers reflect a crisis that cuts across urban and rural divides, affecting families, fuelling gang violence, and deepening social instability.
He detailed that the devastating effects of drug houses on our communities cannot be overstated.
'They serve as hubs for addiction, violence, and criminal recruitment - particularly targeting our youth. Entire neighbourhoods are being held hostage by the threat and reality of drug-related crime, with communities losing trust in law enforcement and hope in a safer future.
'We call on SAPS and the Minister of Police to urgently scale-up resources that enable intelligence-driven operations, dismantle criminal networks, and ensure that arrests lead to successful prosecutions,' he added.
'If SAPS is unable to get a grip on the drug trade that fuels so much violence across the province, the national government must devolve power over policing to capable provincial and local governments, so that we can do what needs to be done to end the killing. Get your news on the go, click here to join the Cape Argus News WhatsApp channel.
'Furthermore, we call on the National Government to invest in preventative programmes, treatment centres, and support systems to help communities break the cycle of addiction and violence.'
In March police made a breakthrough in drug cases when members of the Provincial Operational Command Centre responded to information that drugs were being sold from a business in Koeberg Road, Brooklyn.
Once inside, they discovered a box with plastic bags containing about 9.5 kg of methamphetamine (tik) with an estimated value of R3.34 million in an adjacent room.
A 50-year old Nigerian national was arrested at the scene.
Cape Argus
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