Cape Town – Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has again appealed to President Cyril Ramaphosa to devolve policing powers down to the Western Cape government or the metro.
In an impassioned statement, Hill-Lewis said Ramaphosa should make good on his commitment in the ANC’s January 8 statement that the national government would “take urgent steps to enhance the crime-fighting capacity of law enforcement agencies by increasing the number of police personnel to match our country’s population increase”.
This, despite Ramaphosa last year stating that he would not be entertaining the thought of devolving policing powers down to the Western Cape government or the City of Cape Town.
In his latest appeal, Hill-Lewis also touched on the City of Cape Town’s pending request with the Justice and Police ministers for more policing powers to be devolved to the metro, which neither minister had acknowledged.
“Both ministers have failed to respond, and attempts to escalate this to the president have fallen on deaf ears, despite the immediate and positive impact devolving policing powers would have in helping communities living in daily fear of crime,” Hill-Lewis said.
“The SAPS sorely needs assistance given that 71% of Western Cape police stations have seen a decline in police personnel during the past five financial years.
“Cape Town would welcome improved SAPS resourcing as per the president’s commitment yesterday. This is especially needed in high-crime areas,” Hill-Lewis said.
Last year, the City of Cape Town revealed that it would be investing in more than 230 new law enforcement and metro police officers in this financial year alone, and spend hundreds of millions of rand in crime-fighting technology in Cape Town – from cameras to drones to gunshot location technology – with its record R5.4 billion safety budget in 2022/23.
“Police resourcing is about more than just officers, and extends to vehicles, computers and cutting edge safety technology. We are already leading the way in the use of data and tech from drones to dash cams, which we can avail to enhance policing efficiency.
“Municipal law enforcement has more than tripled its arrest rate in recent years due to increased investment, with 50% of these arrests being drug-related,” the Mayor said.
“In Cape Town, we believe there is not only a constitutional case but a human case for the devolution of these powers immediately. I have assured both the police and justice ministers, and President Ramaphosa that our fight is with criminals, not politicians.
“Residents should not have to live in daily fear of violent crime, and children should feel safe to play outside. That is the Cape Town we are striving towards, where there is freedom of movement for residents and a chance at a better life,” Hill-Lewis said.
Currently, the City in partnership with the Western Cape government’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) has reportedly delivered 1 200 law enforcement officers in communities affected by high crime rates, including Delft, Nyanga, Khayelitsha (Site C), Philippi (inclusive of Hanover Park), Bishop Lavis, Mfuleni, Harare, Gugulethu, Kraaifontein, Mitchells Plain, Atlantis, Philippi East, and Samora Machel.
According to the City, since their deployment, Leap officers have made 8 500 arrests between February, 2020 and July, 2022, the end of the 2021/22 financial year.
This includes the efforts of metro police and the traffic service. The City has removed close to 400 firearms in total off the streets in the past financial year.
With these achievements, the officers were already helping the SAPS reduce the murder rate and other violent crimes, the City said.
“We are already taking guns and drugs off the streets every day, and more powers would enable us to build prosecution-ready case dockets to gain convictions. A declaration by the justice minister would get this done immediately, and an SAPS Act amendment would further consolidate progress,” the Mayor said.
“We call on the president to devolve more policing powers to well-run local authorities without delay, as this would be a quick win to make communities safer in addition to growing the SAPS’s resources over time.
“Currently, the City is utilising peace officer powers granted to local municipal law enforcement agencies under the Criminal Procedure Amendment Act.
“More policing powers for well-run local authorities simply require the issuing of another declaration by the justice minister, as was done in 2018 when more powers were conferred on municipal law enforcement.
“Further progress would be possible by amending the SAPS Act to expand the definition of criminal investigation to include municipal agencies in this mandate,” Hill-Lewis said.