The Western Cape government has called on all stakeholders and government institutions to work together after the latest crime statistics painted a grim picture of the province.

On Tuesday, Western Cape Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen engaged with Western Cape police commissioner, Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, following the release of the province's crime statistics for the third quarter of 2022.

Allen said the crime statistics indicated that a greater social cohesion strategy should exist among all stakeholders and all spheres of government.

"We have seen the numbers in terms of vigilantism with regards to gang-related murders, and when we consider gang-related murders, it contributes to 84.5% of gang-related murders in the entire country, so it remains a concern," he said.

Between 1 October and 31 December 2022, 1 198 murders were recorded in the Western Cape. That's 142 (13.4%) more murders than the same period the previous year.

Ongoing gang violence, which resulted in 229 murders (19%), along with the combined category of arguments/misunderstandings/road rage/provocation, which accounted for 19.9% of murders, were the significant contributors to the murder rate in the Western Cape.

"We want to make sure that the work we are doing with the National Prosecuting Authority and correctional services is clamping down on any particular gaps in the system that we can foster the collaboration so that we can see an actual result in convictions (sic)," Allen said.

The crime statistics further showed that eight police stations in the Western Cape were among the 30 with the highest number of murders in the country.

Khayelitsha showed a decrease of 11.11%, while the other seven had increases. These increases occurred at Mfuleni (56.1%); Delft (6.17%); Nyanga (54.55%); Kraaifontein (20%); Harare (23.4%); Gugulethu (6.38%); and Mitchells Plain (55.56%).

Patekile admitted that more work needed to be done in the province, adding that the priority would be to capacitate the Anti-Gang Unit.

"Gang violence is one of our priorities in this province. Apart from the Anti-Gang Unit, we have other units focusing on hotspots," he said.