The National Prosecuting Authority in the Eastern Cape has identified Gqeberha and Mthatha as areas that are most plagued by organised crime and gang-related offences.
Briefing the media on Tuesday, Eastern Cape Director of Public Prosecutions Barry Madolo promised that the organised crime component in the region would be increased.
Addressing the province's performance and new developments aimed at improving efficiency, Madolo said in the interim, the general prosecutions team would assist the division.
He also highlighted the shortage of deputy directors of Public Prosecutions (DDPPs) in the province, saying it was an issue that was receiving urgent attention.
There was only DDPP in Gqeberha, one in Makhanda and none in Bisho, said Madolo.
"Filing these vacancies is a priority for the region, and recommendations for appointments have been made to the Minister for approval," he said in statement.
Meanwhile, in terms of performance, Madolo said the Eastern Cape Division as a whole had performed consistently well during the 2020/21 financial year and exceeded its targets.
He said the province achieved a commendable 93% conviction rate in gender-based violence and femicide cases.
The conviction rate in High Courts stood at 94.2% during that period, 78.76% in regional courts and 83.7% in district courts.
Madolo said 385 out of the 495 murder cases in the province were successfully prosecuted during the 2020/21 financial year, a conviction rate of 77.8%.
However, Madolo said that that did not mean there was no room for improvement and acknowledged that crime keeps on spiralling.
"The achievement[s] are born of a conscious decision, to have portfolio heads, for each of the priority crimes such as Organised Crime, Serious Complex Commercial Crimes (SCCU), Environmental matters, Child Justice, Gender-based violence, Organised Stock theft, Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and Tax matters," said Madolo.
"To strengthen the capacity of the division, and to ensure that criminals do not enjoy the benefits of crime, a fully-fledged AFU office has been established in Mthatha, in addition to the two in Gqeberha and East London," he added.
