Gang violence drives child murders in the Western Cape

At least 63 children have been murdered in the Western Cape in just five months. This was revealed during a police presentation to the Western Cape Legislature’s standing committee on social development on Tuesday.

Major-General Luyanda Damoyi presented statistics covering the period from April 1 to August 31.The social development department head, Dr Robert Macdonald, shared broader data spanning 2022 to 2024.

“During the period April 1 to August 31, a total of 63 children were murdered in the Western Cape,” Damoyi said.

“These are operational stats, so during auditing, they might change. It hasn’t been released by the minister yet.”

He said children aged 15 to 17 accounted for 71% of the murders during the five months, while 11% were between 11 and 14 years old.

Eleven percent were aged 0 to 5, and 6% were aged 6 to 10. The worst-affected areas, according to Damoyi, included Kraaifontein, Philippi East, Delft, Nyanga, and Mfuleni, along with Samora Machel, Elsies River, Bishop Lavis, Ravensmead, and Gugulethu.According to Damoyi, 22% of the murders were gang-related, with others linked to arguments, robberies, revenge, arson, and rape.

Macdonald presented longer-term data, revealing that 557 children aged between one day and 19 years were killed between 2022 and 2024.Of these, 24 were infants aged between 1 and 27 days, 14 were aged 1 to 11 months, 31 were aged 1 to 4 years, 24 were aged 5 to 9 years, and 77 were between 10 and 14 years old.

Teenagers aged 15 to 19 made up the majority of victims, with 387 killings over the three years. “If you look at the pattern, you'll see that the majority of the murders are occurring in the 15 to 19-year age group,” said Macdonald. “There is also an increase among children aged 10 to 14 compared to the younger age groups.

“This primarily points to the high incidence of gang violence and the involvement of teenagers in gang shootings and gang activity. The primary driver of child murders in the Western Cape is gang activity.”

He said before the Covid-19 pandemic, child murder figures were “actually slightly higher than they are now”.

“The increase over the past three years, starting from 2022, also reflects that year's relatively lower numbers, which were in line with the general trend in crime statistics at the time," he said. “We have even had magistrates threatening to imprison me personally if I cannot find a space for a child who is on a gang’s hit list and is at immediate risk of being killed if not placed urgently.”

MPL Memory Booysen urged religious leaders to join the fight by spreading a message of peace. After the sitting, social development MEC Jaco Londt said, despite severe pressure on the system, they were going above and beyond."

"It is in the pipeline to expand the facilities, but due to budget constraints, it is unlikely to happen in the upcoming financial year."

Linked to this will be the expansion of personnel to provide a service that meets the norms and standards.

Policing activist Patricia Mashale said: “I am concerned that children are caught in the crossfire of drug wars, and that the numbers are still rising.

“The reality is that many children in the Western Cape will not live to become adults, because they are being killed while still in their teens."

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