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The visit by the Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, to Nelson Mandela Bay comes at a decisive moment for communities in the Northern Areas who continue to live under the daily threat of gangsterism, violent crime, and organised kidnapping.

This visit comes after I wrote to the Acting Minister in September last year, calling for urgent national intervention in Nelson Mandela Bay and requesting direct engagement and oversight in the city, given the escalating crime crisis.

Download the letter.

It must also be understood in the context of clear parliamentary decisions already taken. In July last year, Parliament adopted a report flowing from a Democratic Alliance petition brought by our Shadow MEC for Community Safety, Yusuf Cassim MPL, calling for urgent national intervention in the gang violence crisis in the Northern Areas of Nelson Mandela Bay.

That report directed SAPS to urgently address the collapse of the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence capacity in the Metro, requiring progress reports and strengthened national oversight. These were binding resolutions of Parliament, reflecting the severity of the crisis facing our communities.

In November last year, I joined Cassim and DA Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron MP, on oversight inspections of key SAPS units in Nelson Mandela Bay. What we found on the ground demonstrated a stark disconnect between Parliament’s resolutions and reality.

Critical policing units remain hollowed out. The Anti-Gang Unit operates with severely limited vehicles and detective capacity. Crime intelligence capability is dangerously thin. The Flying Squad and K9 units, once vital pillars of rapid response and drug interdiction, are operating under conditions that make effective policing nearly impossible.

This matters because communities in the Northern Areas continue to pay the price. Families are burying young people lost to gang violence. Businesses and residents across the Metro are increasingly targeted by kidnapping syndicates and organised criminal networks. Fear has become normalised, and confidence in public safety has been deeply eroded.

In December, the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature took an additional step by adopting a motion compelling the establishment of a permanent, 24-hour Joint Operations Centre in Nelson Mandela Bay. This centre is intended to coordinate SAPS, Metro Police, the Hawks, and the NPA through real-time intelligence sharing and joint operational command.

That resolution complements Parliament’s earlier decisions. Together, they form a coherent intervention framework: rebuild specialised policing capacity, restore crime intelligence, and ensure permanent joint operational coordination in the city most affected by organised crime in the province.

The DA welcomes Minister Cachalia’s engagement and willingness to work collaboratively. However, collaboration must now translate into implementation. This visit must conclude with clear commitments on resourcing, deployment timelines, and oversight mechanisms to ensure that Parliament’s directives and the Legislature’s resolutions are finally realised on the ground.

Nelson Mandela Bay does not need more diagnoses. It needs action: properly resourced anti-gang units, functioning crime intelligence, and a permanent Joint Operations Centre capable of disrupting organised criminal networks before more lives are lost.

As DA Mayoral Candidate, I am committed to using every lever available to ensure that our city receives the policing support it has been promised and urgently requires. Public safety is the foundation of the economic recovery needed to get this city working again.

Issued by Retief Odendaal MPL - DA NMB Mayoral Candidate