Please find attached soundbite by Nicholas Gotsell MP.
The brutal gang-related shooting this morning in Athlone, including the tragic killing of a nine-month-old baby, is not only a criminal atrocity, but it is the direct consequence of failed leadership and weak accountability in the Western Cape SAPS.
This tragedy follows the DA’s recent exposure of a police sergeant stationed at Athlone SAPS who was arrested for corruption in January. The charges include allegedly soliciting a bribe to fast-track a bail release and smuggling drugs into Pollsmoor Prison through a remand detainee. Yet, shockingly, this officer was not suspended and continues to work at the same station, where his networks and criminal contacts remain active.
This is not an isolated case. The DA has already exposed how Lt Gen Thembisile Patekile has repeatedly allowed corrupt or corruption-accused officers to remain in communities most devastated by gang violence. This sends a dangerous message that corruption in SAPS will be tolerated and that Patekile is blatantly disregarding the President’s instruction that corruption in the ranks of the SAPS must be rooted out.
Gang violence in the Western Cape is driven by the drug trade. When police officers are implicated in that trade and are allowed to remain in their posts, they become enablers of the very violence they are sworn to stop.
The DA calls on the Provincial Commissioner and the Acting Minister of Police to urgently explain:
- Why corrupt and corruption-accused officers are still deployed in gang hotspots;
- What immediate steps will be taken to remove them;
- What integrity measures, lifestyle audits, and vetting are being implemented in high-risk stations like Athlone.
Until SAPS leadership takes decisive action, innocent families will continue to suffer. The DA will not stop pursuing accountability until communities can trust that those in uniform are part of the solution, not the problem.