Skip to main content

Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety

Western Cape police K-9 unit crippled by dog shortage

10 February 2025
Tags:
News Safety

Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Anroux Marais, has expressed concern at the shortage of South African Police Service (SAPS) dogs in the province.

A recent oversight visit to the Western Cape SAPS K-9 Unit by Members of Parliament uncovered a massive shortage of police dogs in the province. In a province where illicit drugs are at the centre of ongoing gang wars, the oversight visit revealed that Cape Town only has 2 narcotic dogs.

According to SAPS management in the province, dogs were eagerly donated in the past, but that practice has diminished in recent years and procuring dogs remains a challenge.

The Provincial Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety has on the other hand invested extensively in establishing and supporting K-9 Units in various municipalities in recent years to serve as force multipliers.

Minister Marais urge the SAPS and Western Cape municipalities that have launched K-9 units to work closer together to share resources and intelligence. “We can only beat crime through collaboration,” she stressed.


Media Enquiries
Kurt Nefdt, Acting MLO to Minister Anroux Marais
Cell: 084 285 1975
Email: Kurt.Nefdt@westerncape.gov.za