ANTI GANG STRATEGY 12 FEBRUARY 2019 Introduction Gang

ANTI- GANG STRATEGY 12 FEBRUARY 2019

Introduction • Gang violence is a very old problem • Some provinces very badly affected by gang violence • SAPS reported in its 2017/18 stats that up to 18% of all murders are gang-related • WC, EC, Gauteng and KZN are badly affected by gang violence • Led to Shutdown Movement protests in Cape Town, Westbury, Bloemfontein, and Durban • Communities are up in arms about gang violence • Gangs have become more brazen and have launched attacks on communities, children and women and even the police 2

LEGISLATIVE & POLICY IMPERATIVES • Section 12(1)(c) of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution (1996) provides for citizens to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources • The Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA)(Act 121 of 1998) makes belonging to, and association with a gang in the commission of a crime, illegal • Civilian Secretariat for Police assessment of gang strategies in 2014 finds that a multi-agency approach is necessary to fight gangs. • It also recommended that communities have to be at the center of planning and the implementation of local anti-gang strategies. 3

POLICY IMPERATIVES National Anti-Gang Strategy was developed in 2016 (NICOC) Two year extensive consultation process, builds on 2008 WC Transformation and Gang Prevention Strategy The strategic objectives of the National Anti-Gang Strategy are: • Adopting an effective coordinated and inter-departmental approach • Promoting a community-centered approach to combating gangsterism • Establishing partnerships between Government, the private sector, civil society and communities • Mitigating the risks posed by gang-related activities through the implementation of prevention, containment, management and mitigation mechanisms 4

ANTI-GANG STRATEGY • • • Strategy premised on four pillars: Human Development; Social Partnerships; Spatial Design and The Criminal Justice Process.

ANTI-GANG UNIT • The President and the Minister of Police responded to the demands from communities by launching the Anti-Gang Unit on 2 November 2018 in Hanover Park. • Operational mandate of the AGU: • Investigate all gangs, including prison gangs, which fits the definition of a criminal enterprise, as defined by the POCA; • Investigate gang-related violence, perpetrated by the defined gangs; • Investigate all gang-related activities which comprises/forms the criminal enterprise of the gangs, with the focus on dismantling the economic profits generated by the defined gangs; • The functions should be divided in two sections, for investigating nonprison gangs and prison gangs, separately, as the investigation methodology differs within the two environments

CONCERNS • There are reports that in the Western Cape there have been tensions with the implementation process • Reports surfaced that the Deputy Provincial Commissioner for Visible Policing has started his own unit called the Major Offences Response Team (MORT) unit • The SAPS must explain to the Committee why, when the President established the AGU, attempts are made within the Western Cape to undermine the effectiveness of the unit. • The SAPS must state what training the AGU has received 7

CONCLUSION • The Committee must make sure that the President’s launch of the Anti-Gang Unit is not undermined • The in-fighting of senior officers threatens service delivery to residents affected by gang violence • The Committee should make sure that the communities receive policing services from the AGU in all gang hotspots • The Committee should ask for the Minister to resolve the conflicts amongst the senior SAPS managers. 8