By REGINALD KANYANE
3 July 2026 – The Democratic Alliance (DA) alleged that the acting Minister of Police, Prof Firoz Cachalia admits that no gang dismantled, despite three months of deployment. DA said Cachalia’s promise of a more targeted second phase of Operation Prosper comes with a deeply troubling admission.
DA spokesperson on Police and Member of Parliament (MP), Lisa Schickerling said after three months of deployment, not a single gang was dismantled. Schickerling further said this is despite the deployment of the SAPS and the SANDF to gang hotspots on the Cape Flats and surrounding areas at an estimated cost of R823 million over 13 months.
“Therefore, we call for intelligence-led policing and specialist gang prosecutions that lead to measurable results of catching and convicting criminals. Communities were promised restored order, disrupted criminal networks and a visible reclaiming of the state’s authority.
“Instead, residents have seen continued shootings, escalating gang violence and little meaningful change in their daily lived reality. While the DA acknowledges that Phase One may have provided limited visible policing and some temporary stabilisation, the facts show that it has failed in its central purpose of weakening organised criminal networks,” she said.
Schickerling added that Cachalia admitted in parliament that no gang was dismantled during the first phase of the operation. She said this is a damning indictment of an intervention that was sold to the public as a serious anti-gang response.
“The reality is that force presence alone does not defeat gangsterism. Without strong crime intelligence, capable detectives, coordinated prosecutors and targeted follow-through against gang leadership, criminal syndicates simply regroup and continue terrorising communities.
“The state cannot keep spending hundreds of millions on deployments that produce statistics on confiscated drugs and arrests, while gang bosses remain in place and neighbourhoods remain under siege,” said Schickerling.
She said they call on Cachalia to ensure that Phase Two is backed by real intelligence capacity, strengthened detective work, specialised anti-gang investigations and prosecutorial coordination that targets criminal leadership rather than just foot soldiers. Schickerling said residents of the Cape Flats do not need another re-announcement of government intent.
“Residents need safer streets, dismantled gangs and a police service capable of delivering lasting results,” she said.
Picture: Prof Firoz Cachalia
The Guardian 