Kubayi and Cachalia take crime plan to Athlone on Tuesday
Two ministers lead a justice and police cluster into one of the Western Cape's most pressured policing areas, with oversight visits to a police station, a magistrates' court and a care centre for abused women and children.
The Justice, Crime Prevention and Security Cluster brings its gender-based violence and femicide outreach programme to Athlone in the Western Cape on Tuesday, 10 February 2026, with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Mmamoloko Kubayi, and the Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, leading the delegation.
They will be supported by Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Andries Nel and Deputy Minister of Police Polly Boshielo, alongside other ministers in the cluster and members of the Western Cape Provincial Government. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development announced the programme in a statement published on 9 February (justice.gov.za).
The day has two halves. The community exhibition and imbizo runs from 10h00 to 13h30 at the Dulcie September Civic Hall. From 14h30 the delegation moves into oversight visits, first to the Athlone police station and its Victim Friendly Centre, then to the Athlone Magistrates’ Court, and finally to a Thuthuzela Care Centre.
Why Athlone, and why now
The engagement forms part of the cluster’s implementation of the Integrated Crime and Violence Prevention Strategy, which government set up to coordinate crime and violence prevention work across departments.
The department’s statement sets out the pressures behind the visit. The Western Cape continues to experience serious crime challenges, with recent crime statistics reflecting increases in violent crime, including murder, particularly gang-related incidents, gender-based violence and property-related crimes.
The statement attributes these trends largely to entrenched gang activity, the proliferation of illegal firearms, substance abuse and persistent socio-economic challenges. It names Mitchells Plain, Athlone, Bishop Lavis, Emfuleni and Delft as crime hotspots in the province.
It also points to underlying social conditions, including high unemployment, low household incomes and poor living conditions, which it says continue to exacerbate crime and vulnerability, particularly among women and the youth. Criminal networks, including drug peddlers and gang leaders, exploit those conditions to recruit young people, according to the statement.
The threat to public officials
One passage of the statement addresses a risk that touches the institutions the delegation will inspect. It notes increasing concern about the targeting of public officials and law enforcement officers in the execution of their duties, and cites a shooting incident outside the Athlone Magistrates’ Court in September as underscoring the seriousness of that threat.
The oversight visits therefore take the ministers to three points in the same local system. The police station and its Victim Friendly Centre are where cases are opened and where victims are first received. The magistrates’ court is where those cases are meant to be heard, and it is the site of the September shooting. The Thuthuzela Care Centre is the specialised facility where survivors of sexual offences receive medical care, counselling and support for a court process.
What the day is meant to produce
The cluster describes the programme as a Pre-State of the Nation Address community activation, intended to intensify government efforts against crime, gangsterism, substance abuse and gender-based violence and femicide in affected communities.
The delegation will also engage directly with community members, local businesses, youth formations, faith-based organisations and community-based organisations, with the stated aim of strengthening partnerships with government and law enforcement agencies.
Those partnerships are the practical test. Community organisations in these hotspots are frequently the first point of contact for a woman who has been assaulted, and the police station, the court and the care centre are the state’s part of that chain. The visits put the ministers in the buildings where the chain either holds or breaks.
The Forum of South African Directors-General will accompany the cluster. Media enquiries are directed to William Baloyi, Mava Scott and Terrence Manase. This report is drawn from the department’s statement of 9 February 2026, which sets out the programme and the background to it rather than the findings of the visits themselves. The inspections are scheduled to conclude at 17h00 on Tuesday.
Source: Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Read the original item.
