Cape Town: Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis announced that he has lodged an inter-governmental dispute as the next crucial step in the fight for expanded powers for Metro Police. He made the announcement at the City’s Bishop Lavis LEAP base together with Member of the Mayoral Committee for Safety and Security – Alderman JP Smith.
The formal dispute under the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act follows extensive attempts by the City of Cape Town to engage the Acting Police Minister and his predecessors. This dispute will now trigger mandatory and prompt mediation with the Acting Minister to try and resolve the issues collaboratively and in good faith without the need for litigation.
Mayor Hill- Lewis stated that they refuse to accept that communities must live in daily fear of gang, gun and drug crime. The time has come to catch and convict, which the Metro Police stand ready to do in support of SAPS and the NPA. He said that the City believes that they must make full use of all policing resources in Cape Town. SAPS really do need their help as they are under severe pressure to combat violent crime with limited policing resources.
Putting it all simply, when a metro police officer confiscates an illegal gun and they take around 400 of these off the streets annually, the City of Cape Town should be empowered to build a successful docket for prosecutors to gain a conviction. Right now, City officers hand the gun over to SAPS and, due to a broken criminal justice system, just 5% of these cases end up in a conviction, forcing the officers to repeatedly police the same offenders.
Reportedly, the City has appropriately trained officers and technology that will strengthen crime investigations, but successive Police Ministers have shown no urgency to expand these powers for Metro Police. And so, they have now taken a decision to formally declare an inter-governmental dispute with the Acting Minister of Police – Firoz Cachalia.
According to Mayor Georin Hill-Lewis the crime investigation powers for Metro Police that can most easily and urgently be achieved via the SAPS Amendment Bill that Minister Cachalia has introduced to Parliament. If all parties can agree on the necessary amendments via formal dispute mediation, they can find a good faith solution that avoids the courts and puts the residents of Cape Town first.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis stressed that the City of Cape Town doesn’t seek to replace or compete with SAPS, but rather to work with police and prosecutors to build winnable dockets and get more convictions for specific crimes especially gang, gun and drug crime.