June 14, 2026·2 min read
Policing on horseback in the Cape Flats | A Cape Town Story
By Jamie Clark & Sam Seeley · No Excuse Films
Within two minutes of starting patrol, someone had been arrested.
He was carrying a homemade imitation firearm.
Ten minutes later, another man nearby was found with a knife.
And yet, what fascinated me most that morning wasn’t the arrests.
It was the horses.
As a former police officer from the UK, I’d never really appreciated what an advantage they provide in places like the Cape Flats.
From the saddle, officers can see over walls, fences and alleyways that would otherwise hide activity from view. They cover ground differently. People notice them long before they arrive.
But perhaps more importantly, they change the atmosphere.
Children run towards them.
People stop and watch.
Conversations begin.
There is something about a horse that seems to lower barriers that a patrol vehicle never could.
Watching SAPS Mounted Unit work through Delft, it became obvious they aren’t there for ceremony or tourism.
They’re there because, in communities like this, they’re an incredibly effective policing tool.
It was another reminder that every city develops its own answers to the challenges it faces.
And sometimes, those answers are hundreds of years old.
Sam and I were fortunate enough to spend the day alongside the officers, watching them work, listening to their stories, and seeing a side of Cape Town that most visitors will never experience.
UBUNTU – UBUNTU - A Cape Town Story
Coming very soon.
—
About: The documentary was made through No Excuse Films — our UK production company.
A small team. No big crew getting in the way of the conversation. No agenda we were trying to smuggle in.
Three things we promised ourselves before we boarded the plane, and held to from the first day of filming to the last:
– No sensationalism.
– No shortcuts.
– No excuses.
That’s the company. That’s how we work. And that, more than anything, is why people who don’t normally talk to cameras sat down and talked to ours.
Waitlist in bio.
