SONA 2024: Cape Town mayor urges Ramaphosa to address gangs
City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis wants President Cyril Ramaphosa to focus on gang-related crimes in his SONA.
City of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the crisis of illegal firearms fuelling gang and drug activity at this year’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the sixth administration’s last State of the Nation Address (SONA) at the Cape Town City Hall on Thursday, 8 February.
HERE’S WHAT THE CAPE TOWN MAYOR WANTS RAMAPHOSA TO FOCUS ON AT THE SONA
Hill-Lewis said he wants Ramaphosa to announce decisive measures to deal with the crisis of illegal firearms fuelling gang, gun, and drug crime in Cape Town and around the country.
Hill-Lewis said they have seen thousands of guns flow from the police to gangsters via the backdoor over the years. For example, guns were stolen recently from Mitchells Plain Police Station.
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“These are the same guns used to terrorise communities and run the drug trade, killing innocent children caught in gang crossfire. How many more families must mourn the loss of loved ones before decisive action is taken to disrupt the gun and drug trade?
“The City calls for strong action to deal with the corrupt elements in SAPS who are conspiring with gangs and for the urgent devolution of more policing powers to municipal law enforcement to help SAPS fight crime,” Hill-Lewis said.
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HILL-LEWIS SLAMS CORRUPT POLICE OFFICERS
The mayor said many of the guns officers take off the streets end up back in the hands of gangsters through corrupt backchannels in SAPS.
In addition, the criminal justice system is also failing to put criminals behind bars, with single-digit conviction rates for gang crime.
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