Shocking crime stats amplify calls for Patekile to gooi

SHOCKING new crime statistics shows the murder rate is up by nine percent in the Western Cape, reinforcing calls for provincial police commissioner Thembisile Patekile to be axed.

Following a delay in the release of the last crime start, first quarter data show murders in the province increased from 1 138 last year to 1 148 this year.

By the end of Q2, the Western Cape had already reached 2 308 murders - 51.6 percent of last year’s total 4 467 murders, with half the financial year still remaining.

Some precincts have seen extreme surges. Mfuleni recorded 156 murders across Q1 and Q2, already 61.4 percent of its entire annual total last year.

Delft, Kraaifontein and several Cape Flats communities continue to experience weekly mass shootings, leaving families and neighbourhoods traumatised.

Even more alarming is the gangland data. Of the 632 gang-related murders recorded nationally in the first half of the year, 575 roughly 91 percent occurred in the Western Cape alone. This means nearly all gang killings in South Africa are taking place within one province.

On a per capita basis, both the Eastern Cape and Western Cape recorded about 15 murders per 100,000 people, while KwaZulu-Natal recorded 10 per 100 000, and Limpopo had the lowest rate.

The top five murder stations were Mfuleni (Western Cape), Kraaifontein (Western Cape), Delft (Western Cape), GP (Gauteng), and Gugulethu (Western Cape).

The data also paints a grim picture for the period from April to June 2025, where the Western Cape recorded an alarming 65,772 serious crimes.

Independent crime researcher Calvin Rafadi said Patekile should be replaced, warning that decisive leadership changes are essential if violent crime persists.

He said: “Decisive leadership changes are essential if violent crime persists. Communities remain under siege from violent criminal gangs

Rafadi has renewed his call for the national government to deploy the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) as a force multiplier to support the under-resourced Western Cape SAPS.

GOOD Party Secretary-General Brett Herron said the conversation around removing Patekile should include questions about systemic SAPS failures that have left violent communities under-resourced.

He said Patekile must answer for longstanding deployment discrepancies that have placed the province’s poorest neighbourhoods at the greatest disadvantage.