Crime statistics, but where are the convictions?
22 May 2026
The release of the crime statistics comes just days after the City’s Safety and Security Directorate wrote to SAPS to highlight the ongoing failures of the criminal justice system, especially when it comes to securing convictions for illegal and prohibited firearms confiscated by City Enforcement.
The City’s most recent correspondence mirrored similar concerns raised with SAPS in 2025, about the low conviction rates for arrests relating to illegal firearms.
We can no longer afford the ‘catch and release’ approach of national government when our communities deserve, and demand that we catch and convict.
The Safety and Security Directorate tracked 1 763 cases linked to illegal firearms and ammunition between January 2023 and March 2026.
Of these cases, 1 377 were firearm-related, with 1 438 firearms confiscated (some cases involved more than one firearm; the cases also include imitations and zip guns).
To date, there have been only 62 firearm-related convictions – or 4,5%. The 36 additional convictions secured were linked to firearm arrests, but the convictions were for other offences, including possession of drugs and ammunition.
‘City enforcement is doing an incredible job responding daily to shooting incidents, conducting hotspot patrols, and working in support of the SAPS in gang-affected areas, but are increasingly arresting the same suspects repeatedly because the system is not functional.
Close to a year ago, the City of Cape Town raised this exact matter with the South African Police Service and the NPA, and it is problematic to see that very little has been done to course-correct on this issue. South Africa has an illegal and prohibited firearm problem. The majority of our murders are committed with firearms. If you solve this crisis, you will significantly decrease the murders and shooting incidents within our city,’ said Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, Alderman JP Smith.
The City has invested heavily in additional boots on the ground, technology, information management resources, and by recruiting specialised members to assist with case management to limit the risk of cases being withdrawn on technicalities, and to help ensure the chain of evidence where arrests are made.
But these investments will mean little if firearm-related arrests do not lead to convictions.
Of the cases tracked, 341 were provisionally withdrawn, and in 238 cases there was a decision not to prosecute, meaning City enforcement, SAPS, and now the SANDF are merely recycling street gangs.
‘I want to commend the City’s Safety and Security Investigation Unit, who are painstakingly following up and tracking all these cases. In the past they were branded as a ‘rogue unit’, but I cannot be more proud of the work they are doing in tracking these cases that would otherwise go nowhere. We need urgent reform, and for local government to be embraced as a viable partner in the fight against crime by giving us additional policing powers and the ability to assist with ballistics, which is central to the delays. We can make a direct impact if given the opportunity,’ said Alderman Smith.
The Directorate has also recently written to SAPS to raise the alarm about firearms confiscated in April 2026 that still haven’t been moved from the SAPS 13 stores to the forensic science laboratory for analysis.
Delays like these risk contaminating evidence and compromising the ballistics and forensic testing. The City is committed to assisting both the SAPS and the NPA.
‘Together, we can end firearm violence by ensuring the conviction rate increases, speeding up ballistics, embracing the City as a viable partner in investigations, embracing City technology investments and City information systems, making better use of the POCA Act in cooperation with local government to act against high-flying gangsters, fixing inefficient sub-committees by implementing a joint war room, and increasing intelligence sharing. These are achievable goals that will make Cape Town safer for all our residents,’ added Alderman Smith.
Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office
