The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) says the Western Cape is the scene of crimes where people of color and Africans are the most affected.
EFF MP Nazir Poulsen was one of the panellists at the Election 360 live debate held at Langa Civic Hall on the Cape Flats.
Six political parties took part in a town hall debate focused on crime in the region and the wider Western Cape.
Paulsen said one solution to combating crime is to hire 100,000 police officers by 2026.
“Here in the Western Cape, this is a crime scene. And black people, African people, especially people of color, are excluded from all economic opportunities and economic activity, and that's particularly true among young people of color and Africans. This has led to high crime rates in the region, making it a crime scene. Therefore, this Western Cape province is not very friendly to young people and people of color,” Poulsen added.
The GOOD party argues that police alone cannot deal with the country's rising crime.
“Yes, we need better policing, and we need better resources for policing. We need police to respond more quickly, and we need them to finish investigations and turn them over to prosecution. But… We cannot eliminate crime in South Africa unless we address its root causes, and that means we must finish the unfinished business of redress and suppressing apartheid.”
Cheslin Steenberg of the Patriotic Alliance says how detectives are deployed is critical to fighting crime.
“Detectives are currently busy building evidence. Our CBU is understaffed, with perhaps one or two members on duty. It's not working. Our lab is not working. But furthermore, within this particular province, the law enforcement agencies of the City of Cape Town and the metro police compete with each other and promote crime. We have the resources to fight, so why does the DA’s office want to come in and claim they’re working for them?”
Meanwhile, Al-Jamaa's lawyer Shamima Salih cited lack of resources as one of the factors hindering the fight against crime.
“If you want to see crime, you have to look at the reality. Our national prosecution service, the SAPS, is unqualified, not trained to their capacity and not provided with the necessary resources. The reality. “That's when you do a criminal investigation that has already gone awry. ”
The video below is a live debate on Elections 360