It’s a “no” from President Cyril Ramaphosa after the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Western Cape’s push to devolve “away from VIP protection into the hands of competent metros.”
The DA-run province has been vocal about its desire to have government empower City police under SEction 99 of the Constitution in order to help SAPS fight crime and ensure residents feel safer.
The push came after a dismal conviction rate from SAPS which is also under-resourced and cannot adequately deal with crimes within the province.
“Lost dockets, lack of evidence and corrupt officials are staple features of SAPS investigations, which is why so many criminals still roam our streets, terrorising communities. These failures give the many hard-working SAPS officers a bad name and erode public trust in the police,” said Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis.
“Our officers are limited to crime prevention in the main, with limited scope for criminal investigations. While we already use that existing scope to the full, and we are fully confident in our power to do so, we also want to do so much more.
“By going beyond crime prevention, we could be doing so much more to help SAPS build prosecution-ready case dockets. Instead, our officers have to rely on an overwhelmed and under-resourced SAPS that, frankly, does not have the capacity to investigate crime properly.”
During a parliamentary Q&A in August, Cele stated that the Constitution of South Africa did not allow for policing services to not be structured under the national commissioner, who has exclusive power over SAPS, reports Business Tech.
This week, Ramaphosa reiterated Cele’s statement and noted that the Consitution of South Africa stipulated that security should consist of a single police service.
“The National Commissioner is responsible to control and manage the police service in accordance with the national policing policy and directions of the Minister of Police.
“The Constitution further provides that a provincial commissioner is responsible for policing in his or her province, as prescribed by national legislation and subject to the power of the National Commissioner to exercise control over and manage the police service,” said the president.
Following the announcement by Ramaphosa, the City responded by saying: “The President was also silent on the specific constitutional means of devolving powers which the City has proposed to Ministers Cele and Lamola.
The City already has its own Municipal Police service and is seeking to give it more powers, either via section 99 of the Constitution or by expanding the existing legislative framework for policing.”
According to the City, the consideration for the devolution of policing powers to the City under section 99 of the Constitution does not conflict with the constitutional provision for a single police service, as the constitution allows for the SAPS to be structured differently at national, provincial, and municipal level.
The Mayor has also offered more immediate help to SAPS by way of extending existing peace officer powers granted to municipal law enforcement.
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Picture: Cape {town} Etc Gallery
