More than 20 people have been killed in the Cape flats, since the beginning of the year.
Hoping to curb the scourge some 200 police officers have been deployed and will be working in gang-infested communities.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said he hopes they make a positive impact.
The additional officers come from different provinces and how long they will be here hasn’t been confirmed.
Cele says their presence is already seeing positive results.
Cele said, “400 people have been arrested outstanding, for serious cases rape and all that…we’re not going to be permanent here, but I can assure you we’re not going to be short again because by the time we leave we would love to see the impact, love to see the communities feeling better.”
Cele said although it will be hard to totally eradicate crime, visibility in crime hotspots is important.
He said, “we’ve worked together with both provincial and city government …. we know that there’s an issue of extortion here big one, almost 107 people have been arrested.”
Residents hope the additional police on the streets will help reduce crime.
Cele said the same strategy will be used in other provinces with more officers being deployed in KZN.