ActionSA Reveals Gang-Related Child Murders on the Cape Flats Doubled in the Past Year
Press Statement by Dereleen James MP
ActionSA Member of Parliament
ActionSA can reveal that gang-related murders of children on the Cape Flats have doubled over the past year, further reinforcing our personally delivered request to the President to declare a State of Emergency on the Cape Flats.
In response to ActionSA’s parliamentary question, the Minister of Police confirmed that between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, gang-related murders of minors recorded by police stations on the Cape Flats more than doubled from 27 to 59.
Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2025, 472 children were tragically murdered on the Cape Flats, with Elsies River, Mitchells Plain and Delft accounting for more than 40% of all gang-related child deaths recorded over the past five years.
The Minister also disclosed that 3 335 illegal firearms were recovered by Cape Flats police stations between 2020 and 2025. This recovery is both considerable and concerning as this represents only a fraction of the illegal weapons flooding these communities and fuelling a climate of violence and terror, where daily shootings have become a grim reality for these communities.
These figures lay bare the devastating reality in Cape Town’s forgotten communities, where children are increasingly caught in the crossfire of warring gangs that continue to reign unchecked, with no clear plan of action from government.
ActionSA rejects the ongoing blame shifting that persists over which sphere of government carries responsibility, as this blame shifting cheaply distracts from the collective duty that all spheres of government share to confront the bloodshed and lawlessness that has engulfed Cape Town.
ActionSA Reveals Gang-Related Child Murders on the Cape Flats Doubled in the Past Year
ActionSA can reveal that gang-related murders of children on the Cape Flats have doubled over the past year, further reinforcing our personally delivered request to the President to declare a State of Emergency on the Cape Flats.
In response to ActionSA’s parliamentary question, the Minister of Police confirmed that between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 financial years, gang-related murders of minors recorded by police stations on the Cape Flats more than doubled from 27 to 59.
Between 1 April 2020 and 31 March 2025, 472 children were tragically murdered on the Cape Flats, with Elsies River, Mitchells Plain and Delft accounting for more than 40% of all gang-related child deaths recorded over the past five years.
The Minister also disclosed that 3 335 illegal firearms were recovered by Cape Flats police stations between 2020 and 2025. This recovery is both considerable and concerning as this represents only a fraction of the illegal weapons flooding these communities and fuelling a climate of violence and terror, where daily shootings have become a grim reality for these communities.
These figures lay bare the devastating reality in Cape Town’s forgotten communities, where children are increasingly caught in the crossfire of warring gangs that continue to reign unchecked, with no clear plan of action from government.
ActionSA rejects the ongoing blame shifting that persists over which sphere of government carries responsibility, as this blame shifting cheaply distracts from the collective duty that all spheres of government share to confront the bloodshed and lawlessness that has engulfed Cape Town.