Latest news with #CapeFlats
Mail & Guardian
3 days ago
- General
- Mail & Guardian
DA renews bid to control policing in Western Cape
Raid: South African Police Service members patrol the streets on the Cape Flats (above). The Democratic Alliance wants the Western Cape to take over policing responsibility from the national government. The party has bristled at billionaire Johann Rupert's remarks that the Cape Flats are the epicentre of South Africa's violent crime problem This content is restricted to subscribers only . Join the M&G Community Our commitment at the Mail & Guardian is to ensure every reader enjoys the finest experience. Join the M&G community and support us in delivering in-depth news to you consistently. Subscription enables: - M&G community membership - independent journalism - access to all premium articles & features - a digital version of the weekly newspaper - invites to subscriber-only events - the opportunity to test new online features first Already a subscriber?
The Herald
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Herald
Rupert speaks, Ramaphosa stands firm: SA's moment at the White House
In a political moment charged with tension and global scrutiny, Johann Rupert has emerged as an unlikely voice of unity, pragmatism and patriotism. As US President Donald Trump hosted President Cyril Ramaphosa at the White House on Wednesday, Rupert's unexpected intervention drew praise across the political spectrum for his candour and his defence of South Africa. Sport, arts and culture minister Gayton McKenzie, once a vocal critic of Rupert, reversed course in a public show of support. 'Rupert is not who we think he is, he is a true patriot. He loves this country and I want to be the first to admit I was wrong about him. He spoke up against killing on the [Cape] flats, he spoke against illegal foreigners, but most importantly he stood up for South Africa. He is a gem,' said McKenzie. The Oval Office meeting came as Trump, now in his second term, has reignited claims of a 'genocide' of white farmers in South Africa — allegations the government has repeatedly denied. Trump reportedly played footage of EFF leader Julius Malema chanting 'Kill the Boer', using it as evidence of racial persecution.
Malay Mail
07-05-2025
- Malay Mail
Cape Town paramedics risk their lives to save others in gangland ‘Red Zones'
CAPE TOWN, May 7 — The call came in just after 7pm as the paramedics began the night shift: a man had been stabbed in the head with a glass bottle and was bleeding heavily. The medical crew and their ambulance from Cape Town's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) were only minutes away. But they could not respond until they had an armed police escort. The Cape Flats, low-lying townships outside Cape Town, are hotspots for murder and gang violence in a country already plagued by one of the highest crime rates in the world. The sprawling area of Philippi, where the wounded man lay bleeding in a shack, is among the most dangerous. It is one of nine Red Zones in Cape Town where the EMS refuses to allow its medical crews to move without security cover. 'If it was up to me, I would go straight there,' said paramedic Mawethu Ntintini, 52, pacing the sidewalk outside the Philippi police station in his green reflective uniform. 'But we have to go through the police.' Waiting inside the ambulance was Ntintini's partner, Ntombikayisi Joko, who has narrowly escaped ambush while on duty and was robbed in 2021 while waiting for directions to a call-out. 'Every time I'm going out, I have to pray,' the 42-year-old mother told AFP. 'If we were going there by ourselves, we would be robbed,' Ntintini admitted. They waited another 30 minutes before a police patrol car emerged to escort the ambulance 10 minutes down the road to a small shack of corrugated iron. The Cape Flats, low-lying townships outside Cape Town, are hotspots for murder and gang violence in a country already plagued by one of the highest crime rates in the crews are soft targets for criminals looking to steal phones, money or medical equipment. — AFP pic Too late Anguished family members crowded at the wounded man's bed were relieved to see the paramedics. 'Sometimes we have to wait until the morning just because we live in a wrong place,' one said. As the team worked, the police car's flashing lights cast a blue glow on the dark street. The man's injuries, a deep cut to the arm and a bump on the head, were less severe than feared. Loaded into the ambulance, he arrived at the hospital at 8:45 pm, almost two hours after the call for help. Joko recalled a time the police, overstretched and overburdened, could only free up an escort more than an hour after an emergency was issued for a woman in labour. It was too late. 'It was a baby boy, he was so cute. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck,' she said. 'I was crying, because I knew that if I was there before, I would have helped that baby.' Four of South Africa's top five homicide hotspots last year were in the Cape Flats, according to police figures. The Western Cape — one of nine provinces — recorded more than 12 people murdered every day, with the national average hovering around 75 a day. The EMS demanded security escorts in 2015 when there was more than one assault a week on paramedics operating in the Cape Flats. Incidents peaked in 2017 when nearly 90 attacks were recorded, ranging from verbal abuse and theft to hijackings and stabbings. In 2023, the latest available figure, there were 44 incidents. A patrol car of the South African Police Service provides escort to an ambulance with the Southern Division paramedic at Mitchells Plain EMS base intervening during a night shift duty in the Philippi township, Cape Town, within the broader Cape Flats area, April 15, 2025. Cape Town's Emergency Medical Services (EMS) refuses to allow its medical crews to move without security cover when they operate in Red Zones. — AFP pic Soft targets Ambulance crews are soft targets for criminals looking to steal phones, money or medical equipment, said Pastor Craven Engel, who runs a gang violence prevention organisation called Ceasefire. He linked the violence to hardships imposed under apartheid, which espoused racial segregation and forced non-whites into bleak areas like Philippi, 20 kilometres from the city centre. 'It started with the urban displacement, uprooting people, putting them into areas where there's no economic development, no recreation, no sustainable livelihood,' Engel said. With high unemployment and rampant poverty, 'the resources are so depleted that people are now targeting the good guys,' he told AFP at his offices in Hanover Park, another Red Zone. Medical crews working to save lives sometimes know the criminals who threaten them and might also, one day, need their assistance, said 32-year-old paramedic Inathi Jacob. 'You get angry,' she said. 'But we don't let them get us to the core. There are a lot of people who really need the services of EMS.' Ntintini and Joko had just dropped off the bleeding man at a hospital when the second 'priority one' call of their night shift came in: an elderly man, recently recovered from a stroke, was unresponsive. Driving to his house would take only five minutes but the ambulance could only leave 40 minutes later, sirens blaring as a police car escorted them down narrow, dark alleyways. — AFP
News24
07-05-2025
- News24
Two shot dead, one hospitalised in suspected gang hit in Cape Town
Two people have been shot dead while another was hospitalised following a shooting in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain. No arrests have yet been made. Police say the motive for the attack is believed to be gang related. Two men have been shot and killed while a third person was rushed to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds, in what police suspect was a gang attack in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain on Tuesday night. Western Cape Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg, said when police responded to the shooting at the corner of Platteklip Street and Cable Way, they found two men aged 18 and 19 with gunshot wounds to their bodies. 'The victims were standing in the road when a Toyota Etios drove past and opened fire on them. The motive for the attack is believed to be gang-related,' said Twigg. He added that the two victims were declared deceased by medical personnel, while the third victim was taken to a medical facility for medical treatment. Cape Flats Safety Forum chairperson Abie Isaacs said gang violence in the Mitchells Plain area has been out of control in recent months. Condemning the attack, Isaacs said the shooting just proves once again how rife gun violence is in the gang-infested area. 'We hold the view there is clearly no political will to deal with what we call urban terror [gang war] on the Cape Flats. 'Gun violence and the increase in gang attacks is a deep concern for residents who are forced to live among the criminals,' Isaacs added. He called for a special probe to be set up to deal with gun violence in the city. 'It cannot be normal for our people to constantly be killed by gangs and their guns. Our young people are under threat by ongoing violence on the Cape Flats, it's a cry for help,' stressed Isaacs. The Cape Flats Safety Forum called on the Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile to increase police presence in the Mitchells Plain area. Attempts by News24 to reach the families of the two deceased have been unsuccessful at the time of publication. Anyone with information about the shooting incident can call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
