- NMB police units are critically under-resourced and unsafe.
- Yusuf Cassim’s parliamentary recommendations were ignored.
- Urgent action is needed to restore vehicles and support units.
See photos here, here, here and here.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) can today confirm that policing capacity in Nelson Mandela Bay is in a dire state, with the Flying Squad on the brink of collapse, and the Anti-Gang and K9 Units struggling to operate under extreme resource constraints.
Our oversight visits to the Port Elizabeth Flying Squad, Provincial Anti-Gang Unit (AGU), and K9 Unit revealed serious operational challenges, crumbling infrastructure, and a shocking lack of support for officers risking their lives daily.
These failures directly undermine Parliament’s own directives. In July 2025, the National Assembly adopted a report which originated by a petition received from MPL Yusuf Cassim which called for priority intervention in the Northern Areas’ gang crisis. The resolution: specifically directed SAPS to address the collapse of the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence in Nelson Mandela Bay.
It highlighted over 1 000 gang-related murders since 2019, including 39 children killed in the last two financial years. Parliament adopted those recommendations.
The Anti-Gang Unit, for example, has close to 100 members but is forced to operate with fewer than five operational vehicles. It also functions with 5 of 11 vehicles, detectives in unsafe offices, no safe houses, no completed security vetting, and an annual budget of only R6 million, despite being tasked with tackling kidnappings, extortion, and organised crime.
The Flying Squad, once the backbone of rapid response in the metro, is now barely functioning, operating with just one response vehicle for 1.2 million residents. Members without transport sit idle, firearm training happens only once every five years, and the Accident Response Team doesn’t even have proper safety gear. This amounts to criminal negligence.
The K9 Unit faces similar challenges. It currently has 22 operational members, roughly four per shift, and 13 dogs, including patrol, explosives, narcotics, search-and-rescue, fire, and protected-species dogs. However, the unit has no high-performance vehicles, only basic bakkies, and the specialised dogs have no dedicated vehicles of their own. There is no groundsman, leaving officers to maintain the kennels and facilities themselves.
In a city with a severe drug problem, this level of capacity is simply unacceptable.
I will also follow up on the letter written by NMB Mayoral Candidate, Retief Odendaal MPL, to the Acting Minister of Police, calling for urgent national intervention into the collapse of policing across Nelson Mandela Bay.
The DA demands:
- Immediate restoration of vehicle fleets for all three units.
- Implementation of Cassim’s parliamentary recommendations in full, including capacity increases for Crime Intelligence and the AGU.
- Fast-tracked vetting and proper support for AGU and K9 members.
- A ring-fenced operational budget and improved intelligence coordination.
We will take these findings to Parliament and continue to fight for a police service that protects communities.