Cape Town - After months of advocating for the devolution of policing powers down to local government level, the City has officially requested more policing powers in a bid to create its own fully fledged policing service.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced the anticipated move during the City’s council meeting on Thursday, saying that he had formally written to Police Minister Bheki Cele asking for him to support the City’s call for expanded crime-fighting powers, including the ability to investigate crime.
According to Hill-Lewis, the City can support its claims about its ability to fight crime based on its successes with the Law Enforcement unit.
“We have the ability and tools to fight crime in our city. We have trained and deployed hundreds of additional law enforcement officers and expanded our support of neighbourhood watches. We are harnessing technology to fight crime, and fighting to expand municipal policing powers.
“If the minister is not prepared to give us the powers we seek, we will fight tooth and nail to get them. We owe it to the millions of people in this city who live in fear of crime.”
Hill-Lewis also said the City was looking to deploy 100 Law Enforcement officers to provide a 24-hour policing presence in the Cape Town CBD.
He said in the coming months, the City would be launching an 80-officer Facility Protection unit to safeguard municipal buildings from vandalism and staff from violent attacks.
“Plans are under way to convert the City’s current Transport Management Centre in Goodwood into a fully integrated Joint Services Operations Centre (JSOC). The JSOC will become the head of our policing operation.
“It is where our entire crime-fighting apparatus will be run from. By going beyond crime prevention, we would be doing more to help SAPS,” Hill-Lewis said.
In response to Hill-Lewis’s announcement, Police Minister Bheki Cele said: “I have nothing to do with the devolution of power, that is a constitutional matter.
“If anything, they should write to the Ministry of Justice which is responsible for dealing with the Constitution. I can only implement what the Constitution says.
“Right now the Constitution says that police is one entity that will derive from the national government. They should stop crying at the wrong funeral.”