Minister condemns ongoing attacks on DSD staff

The Western Cape Minister of Social Development, Wendy Kaizer-Philander, strongly condemns the latest attempted hijacking of a DSD staff member on Monday morning. 

This brings the number of incidents to three in the space of a week. 

During a monitoring visit to an NPO, a policy developer from the Child Protection programme fell victim to an attempted hijacking in Khayelitsha. She was shot at during the incident, but managed to escape and make her way to safety at a nearby petrol station. 

Last week, a Facilities Management staff member was hijacked at gunpoint in his driveway after completing a shift. In a different incident last week, a social worker was hijacked while conducting a home visit. All of these incidents took place in Khayelitsha.

“These types of incidents must be condemned in the strongest possible terms. Attacks on DSD staff should be viewed as an attack on the State as well as an attack on the vulnerable. The staff were engaged in duties to ensure that vulnerable clients are cared for and supported. While counselling has been offered, several of our staff and their families have been severely traumatised by these acts of violence. We call on anyone with information to report it to the police so that we can bring these criminals to book,” said Minister Kaizer-Philander. 

During the 2025/26 financial year, there were 17 hijacking and attempted hijacking incidents. For this financial year, there have already been 22 incidents in total. These figures exclude assaults and other attacks on staff. The Department has put measures in place to mitigate the risk, and will continue to find ways it can increase the safety of staff. 

Some of these measures already in place are: 

• Removal of all identifying information from government vehicles.
• In certain high-risk areas, security measures at offices and facilities have been upgraded to protect staff.
• DSD social workers have been directed to travel in pairs and avoid entering certain high-risk areas without a police escort.

Media enquiries

Esther Lewis
Head of Communications

Department of Social Development

E-mail: Esther.Lewis@westerncape.gov.za

Website: www.westerncape.gov.za