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The Minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, is in Ekurhuleni today, and it is a missed opportunity to tackle the violent crime crisis. Her focus in Ekurhuleni should be taking back the streets from criminals.

Kempton Park has become Gauteng’s kidnapping hotspot. SAPS figures show 76 kidnapping cases were recorded between April and June 2026, a sharp 60% increase from the same period last year. These are not just statistics. They represent women who did not make it home, families searching for loved ones, and communities asking whether the state can keep them safe.

Today, Minister Ntshavheni is on the ground in Ekurhuleni planting trees; she should account for what intelligence assessment is being conducted into the recent killings and the sharp rise in kidnappings, what information is being shared with SAPS Crime Intelligence and investigators, and what intelligence-led operations are being directed at identified crime hotspots.

Arrests, not Acacias,
Busts, not Bushes,
Trials, not Trees.

Our message is simple: Action, not advice.

The police and other law enforcement agencies must be empowered to investigate by properly resourcing Family Violence, Child Protection, and Sexual Offenses units. Critical vacancies must be filled, and investigators must have the vehicles, forensic support and tools necessary to investigate crimes against women and children. Without that, they are set up for failure.

The police and the Ekurhuleni Metro Police must catch criminals; delays in forensic DNA processing must be fixed so that evidence capable of identifying violent criminals does not sit in the system while criminals remain on the streets.

Ntshavheni and all other Ministers in the Security Cluster must account and ensure the publishing of reliable and comprehensive statistics on violence against women and children so that South Africans can measure the scale of the crisis and whether government interventions are actually working.

While government plants trees today, women in Ekurhuleni are asking a far more urgent question: where is the security response? Where is the lockdown Premier Panyaza Lesufi promised?

We need intelligence that identifies threats before more lives are lost. We need investigators who can build cases. We need forensic evidence processed quickly. And we need more police deployed where communities are under threat.

Put more police on the ground. Ekurhuleni needs action, not advice, not trees.

Issued by DA Ekurhuleni Mayoral Candidate Khathutshelo Rasilingwane