21/09/2025
To:
President Cyril Ramaphosa, The Presidency, Union Buildings, Pretoria
Premier Alan Winde, Office of the Premier, Western Cape Provincial Government
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, Office of the Executive Mayor, City of Cape Town
From: Roscoe Jacobs, Convenor –
Date: 21 September 2025
Subject: Urgent Demand for Coordinated Action to End Violence and Socio-Economic Neglect on the Cape Flats
Dear President Ramaphosa, Premier Winde and Mayor Hill-Lewis
As the Convenor of , a movement rooted in the lived realities of the Cape Flats, I write on behalf of communities that have endured generations of violence, gangsterism, drugs, and socio-economic abandonment.
This situation has escalated to a point where ordinary policing, piecemeal interventions, and uncoordinated government responses are no longer sufficient. Lives are being lost daily, children are being recruited into gangs, and families are living in fear.
Section 7(2): The state must respect, protect, promote, and fulfill the rights in the Bill of Rights.
Section 12: Everyone has the right to be free from all forms of violence.
Sections 26, 27, and 29: Guarantee access to housing, healthcare, and education.
Section 28: Places a duty on the state to protect and care for children.
Section 152: Local government must promote social and economic development and ensure a safe environment.
Section 41: All spheres of government must secure the well-being of the people and act cooperatively.
Court rulings such as Grootboom, Treatment Action Campaign, Rail Commuters, Carmichele, and Glenister confirm that government cannot stand idle in the face of constitutional rights violations. Failure to take reasonable, coordinated steps amounts to a constitutional breach.
The crisis on the Cape Flats stems from systemic failures at all levels:
National Government: Inadequate sustained deployment of the SANDF and SAPS; failure to dismantle organised crime; neglect of programmes that provide alternatives to gang life.
Provincial Government: Weak oversight over policing; lack of coordinated youth, housing, and social development strategies; limited integration with crime-prevention frameworks.
Local Government: Failure to declare a local disaster; unsafe and neglected infrastructure; lack of social development programmes that create alternatives to gangsterism.
We hereby demand that:
1. The President immediately authorises the deployment of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) for at least six (6) months to stabilise the Cape Flats in support of SAPS.
2. The Mayor of Cape Town declares the Cape Flats a local disaster area under the Disaster Management Act, to unlock emergency resources and extraordinary measures.
3. All three spheres of government jointly adopt and implement a Cape Flats Social Cohesion and Safety Plan, which must:
Be based on the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy (ICVPS) of the National Government;
Integrate policing, intelligence, and justice with socio-economic interventions (education, housing, healthcare, skills training, and youth employment);
Include measurable targets, timelines, and dedicated budgets;
Be independently monitored with regular public reporting;
Ensure meaningful participation of community organisations and residents.
Should there be no action within 30 days, we will:
Pursue urgent legal remedies in the High Court;
Refer the matter to the South African Human Rights Commission and the Public Protector;
Mobilise communities, faith-based groups, and civil society in mass action until urgent relief is provided.
This is not the South Africa that Ashley Kriel fought and paid in blood for. His struggle, and that of many others, was for dignity, freedom, and opportunity — not for communities to remain trapped in fear and despair.
The Cape Flats cannot wait any longer. Every day of inaction costs lives and destroys futures. We therefore demand that you act together, act urgently, and act decisively.
Sincerely,
Roscoe Jacobs
Convenor –
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