Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbite by Lisa Schickerling MP.
– Cape Town drones outfly provincial SAPS 4-to-1.
– 1 000 drone flights by June 2026.
– DA governments leading policing innovation.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) can reveal that while national government struggles to provide SAPS with the basic crime-fighting technology, DA governments are proving how innovation can make communities safer.
A Parliamentary reply by the Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, to the DA has revealed that the Western Cape SAPS Air Wing undertook just 238 drone flights during the 2024/25 financial year. In stark contrast, the City of Cape Town’s Safety and Security Directorate will have completed 1 000 drone flights by 1 June 2026, more than four times the number conducted by provincial SAPS.
The City of Cape Town is also preparing to increase its annual drone flight target from 1 000 to 3 000 by June 2027.
This achievement demonstrates what capable, innovative government can deliver when resources are effectively managed and deployed where they are needed most. The stands in stark contrast to the steady disinvestment and defunding in SAPS which national government undertakes.
The City routinely uses drones to assist with crime prevention and operational responses, including shooting incidents, smash-and-grab attacks, vehicle accidents and hotspot monitoring. These aerial assets provide real-time intelligence to officers on the ground, enabling faster and more effective interventions.
The success of this approach is already evident. Previously Cape Town’s Eye-in-the-Sky programme tracked suspected poachers operating in Hout Bay from kilometres away, leading law enforcement officers directly to the suspects’ residence. More than 3 000 crayfish and a high-powered vessel were seized, with the entire operation captured as evidence for prosecution.
While DA governments are embracing innovation, other administrations continue to lag behind. In Gauteng, only one of 33 available drones was registered and utilised over the course of a year, resulting in R10.8 million in drone procurement expenditure being flagged as irregular in the province’s 2023/24 Annual Report. This is despite grand promises made by Premier Panyaza Lesufi in 2022 regarding a vast network of drones and surveillance technology that has yet to materialise. Again in contrast, the City of Cape Town’s drone unit is fully certified.
The DA is also driving the use of drone technology in municipalities across the Western Cape, including the Cape Winelands, Overberg, Garden Route and West Coast District Municipalities, while DA-run municipalities such as Cape Town and Kouga continue to demonstrate the value of these tools in protecting communities.
The DA remains committed to building safer communities through innovation, smart policing and the devolution of policing powers to capable local governments.
We support the South African police with the use of these technologies and stand by to assist them in their essential crime prevention work. However, a failure to invest in technology and modernisation by national government has left SAPS unable to operate as a modern police service.
This is another good reason why the control of the SAPS should be expanded to capable provincial or local governments and why the City of Cape Town must be successful in their litigation to expand the powers of the police services.