Over R3 billion has been allocated to safety programs in the Western Cape’s budget covering law enforcement, crime prevention, and community-based safety initiatives.
The province has been under increasing pressure over its decisions to keep pouring billions into safety plans that have been criticised as ineffective, amid persistently high crime statistics.
Western Cape Finance MEC Deidré Baartman on Thursday tabled a R269.524 billion budget for the 2025 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).
It included R101 billion allocated to Education, R100 billion to Health, R8.4 billion to Social Protection, and R6.4 billion to Housing and Community Amenities, among others.
On safety, Baartman said: “Ensuring the safety of the people of the Western Cape and the businesses that operate in our province. It is not just a policy commitment; it is a moral imperative. Our murder rate is still too high and we must work together as a society to address this. We will allocate R3.955 billion to Safety programmes over the MTEF. These funds are directed towards reinforcing law enforcement, crime prevention, and community-based safety initiatives. We will strengthen law enforcement by allocating R1.311 billion for the Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP), K9 units, Law Enforcement Reaction Units, and other key safety partnerships.
“To combat gangsterism, the DPOCS (Department of Community Safety) will spend R96.650 million over the 2025 MTEF to support the Provincial Joints Anti-Gang Priority Committee, which coordinates the Western Cape’s response to the National Anti-Gangsterism Strategy. The Department will assess 84 Community Policing Forums, 36 Community Safety Forums and approve 600 Neighbourhood Watches over the 2025 MTEF; and they will receive additional funding of R2 million for the Provincial Safety Coordination and Intelligence Centre.”
She said a further R91.008 million was budgeted for the Western Cape Education Department's Safe Schools Programme. While R1.568 billion over the 2025 MTEF, was budgeted to “enhance traffic law enforcement and road safety”; of which R148.368 million is dedicated to Road Safety Management.
GOOD party secretary-general Brett Herron rejected Baartman's claim that the budget was tabled with every line item representing “allocative efficiency”.
"The DA-led province continues to back the ineffective Safety Plan, spending big on a political vanity project that falls outside its mandate and has failed to yield any returns.
"The Western Cape Safety Plan was introduced in 2019 with one clear objective – to halve the murder rate within 10 years, a virtuous goal. But, despite the billions of Rand spent on the programme, the number of murders has increased every year since the plan was implemented. This is confirmed in Baartman’s own 'Budget Summary', which has 'murders growth of 12.2%' from 2019 to 2024. Using the concept of ‘allocative efficiency” this Plan should be scrapped and the funding invested in projects and programmes that would have more impact on reducing crime: better housing, better social services, youth employment programmes and better education.”
Cape Times