The Democratic Alliance is appealing to change the ‘South African Police Service’ to the ‘Cape Town Police Service’ – a step they believe will greatly enhance Capetonian’s safety, devolve “away from VIP protection into the hands of competent metros” and if accepted, allow for benefits such as a budget that can be better utilised and new infrastructure options like our own forensics lab.
The governing party of the Western Cape has already expressed their bold proposal to Fiance Minister Enoch Godongwana and the National Treasury.
The thinking behind the name change is that it would “revolutionise” policing in Cape Town by bringing “well-run law enforcement closer to the people,” according to the party as per EWN.
“Time to protect the people rather than politicians,” says the DA’s Cape Town mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis who expressed:
“I have formally requested the National Treasury to create a brand-new municipal grant, financed out of the current VIP protection budget, to fund enhanced powers for local law enforcement and metro police forces in cities that have demonstrated that they have the capacity to run their own law enforcement operations.”
This would mean calling for the R1.7 billion VIP protection budget to be slashed roughly in half, with an allocated R1 billion to go to the potential Cape Town Police so that residents can be protected rather than politicians, according to Hill-Lewis.
The DA further expressed that SAPS, which is managed in Pretoria has proven over 27 years that they “simply [do not] have the capacity to keep Capetonians safe” despite many of the excellent and hardworking SAPS officers.
In outlining the fund, the DA noted that it would:
- Establish Cape Town’s own forensic laboratory.
- Fund more boots on the ground
- Conduct pilot research at individual police stations where the power to determine budget priorities and reporting lines is moved from the national minister of police to the Cape Town City Council.
The DA also singled out Bheki Cele is saying that he has proven he will “never be able to bring peace to the people Manenberg, Hanover Park, Phillippi, Gugulethu and Grassy Park.”
This follows the back and forth conflict between Cele and the Western Cape police, who in Cele’s opinion already “enjoys the lion’s share” of SA police resources.
Also read:
Proteas captain ‘taken aback’ by De Kock’s decision to withdraw from the team
Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery