The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Tuesday the country’s crime intelligence needs significant change to ensure future crimes are anticipated, calling on Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to devolve policing powers.

DA spokesperson on Police Ian Cameron explained that this would entail a skills audit to determine whether the “right people” are in critical positions and to introduce “well-trained recruits” to start building relevant localised capacity.

“It is also crucial to determine the origins of leaks that compromise good police officers,” he added.

Cameron pointed out that Tuesday morning’s taxi rank shooting in Nyanga, in the Western Cape, which claimed one life and injured seven others, alongside the murder of nine people at a tavern in Mpumalanga over the weekend, underscored the South African Police Service’s (Saps’s) “inability to act proactively and the lack of crime intelligence.”

“Most of these incidents are planned and can be prevented if the right intelligence structures are in place,” he said.

He noted that Mchunu’s recent revelation that 9 000 people were killed in mass shootings between 2019 and 2023 highlighted the severity of the “crime crisis” in the country.

“…citizens and police officers alike live in fear, with a growing number of officers themselves becoming victims of violent crime,” he said.

The DA said it supported the Minister’s proposed law reforms to outlaw gang membership and urged the government to act swiftly to implement these measures.

“South Africans cannot continue to live under siege. It is time for decisive action to restore law and order,” stated Cameron.

LUXURY HOTEL PURCHASE

Meanwhile, the DA has written to the Inspector-General for Intelligence to request that his office investigate reports that the Crime Intelligence division of the Saps had purchased a luxury boutique hotel in Pretoria North, with a price tag of a staggering R22.7-million.

DA spokesperson on State Security Dianne Kohler Barnard said while it was reported that this purchase took place in October 2024, it was striking that no mention of such a purchase was made when the Saps reported on its property portfolio to the Portfolio Committee on Police in November 2024.

"If it was meant to be a secret – perhaps a front in a specific intelligence exercise – the fact that it is now front-page news speaks volumes in terms of their ability to keep information secret.

"It has been reported that this purchase was signed off by Crime Intelligence head major-general Dumisani Khumalo, who was appointed to the post just under two years previously, as well as the entity’s chief financial officer major-general Philani Lushaba," she said. 

Barnard highlighted that the purchase also raised the question as to whether or not Crime Intelligence had first approached the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) to seek out vacant public property that was fit for purpose, instead of spending millions on a boutique hotel.

"...had Crime Intelligence instead obtained a property from the DPWI, the cost would no doubt have been substantially less, if not zero," she said. 

She noted that Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said that he was not informed of the purchase, nor did his department receive a request for property allocations from Crime Intelligence in this regard.