Cape Town's plan to merge police services raises concerns among officers
Concerns mount as Cape Town aims to unify its police forces.
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The City of Cape Town plans to merge its metro police, law enforcement, and traffic services into a single municipal police force.
However, numerous officers have expressed concerns that the process is being rushed, leading to confusion among staff. Some have described the restructuring as being "driven through at a red light," warning it is hampering response times, generating job uncertainty, and leaving personnel unclear about their roles and responsibilities.
The City said in their response the move forms part of a long-term safety strategy: “The integration was first proposed as part of the city’s broader safety strategy, aligned with national policing reforms and local service delivery goals."
The City added the goals include cutting duplication, speeding up responses and opening up more career paths for officers. The implementation date has now been shifted from October 2025 to February 2026 “to allow for additional training, union engagement, and operational readiness”.
This week, shop stewards wrote to the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu), demanding the city address officers’ concerns before pushing ahead.
They said the process feels rushed and could lead to operational chaos, low morale and confusion about responsibilities. A detailed internal plan sent to staff — explains why the city wants the change.
The report says the current system suffers from a “silo effect” that blocks communication and makes joint planning difficult.
It states: “It also notes that the three services often end up attending the same incidents, stretching resources for no reason. The document says different rank and grading systems also limit promotions and career paths."
The report says officers cannot always respond to an incident even if they are closest, because it may fall outside their branch’s mandate.“Response times are slower because the nearest unit often cannot be deployed,” the report states.
The report also says joint operations require lengthy meetings that “detract from operational time”. To fix these issues, the report said, the city wants one unified police service.
Under the new structure, all operations including specialist policing, by-law enforcement, internal affairs, CCTV, radio control, the Fusion Centre and the training college will fall under one command with shared support systems and a single communications centre.
The report says the shift will create “parity and alignment” in job grades and help the city use its resources more effectively.
Despite this, many officers feel the city is pressing ahead without properly addressing operational concerns.
The city maintains it was engaging unions directly.
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