Parliament, Friday, 4 September 2020 – The Portfolio Committee on Police has advised that City of Cape Town’s Law Enforcement Department be integrated into the Metro Police to ensure greater accountability of the department.
The committee received a briefing today from the City of Cape Town on the evictions that happened in Khayelitsha.
The committee was informed that, due to the fact that law enforcement officers are appointed in terms of Section 334 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Act which places them outside the investigative ambit of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate Act.
According to the committee, this creates a lacuna in oversight over the department as they perform policing functions. And this was the context within which the committee advised the city to consider integrating the department into the municipal police in the meantime.
The committee calls for an existence of a closer and mutually beneficial relationship that will ensure coordinated response to policing challenges in the city. “Inter-agency collaboration is central in winning the war against criminality and no one, operating alone will succeed in this noble endeavour,” said Ms Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the Chairperson of the committee.
In relation to the IPID Act, the committee has reemphasised that the amendment of the Act remains a priority, hence the call for the integration of the law enforcement officers into the City Police as the committee deals with the problem of lacuna in the law.
The committee appreciated the open manner in which the Mayor of the City of cape Town committed to ensuring a smooth working relationship between the City and the South African Police Service (SAPS), and in line with this, the committee has called for the city to urgently provide competency certificates for verification by the SAPS management.
Furthermore, the committee has supported the call for the submission of training programmes, utilised for the training of the law enforcement officers, to the National Commissioner of SAPS for scrutiny and to ensure that they are in line with requisite standards.
The committee has further called for adherence to the law when evictions or counter-spoliation of an illegally erected unoccupied structures. The committee has also called on the City to uphold the dignity of all its residents at all times.
The committee will continue to monitor, and engage all stakeholders to ensure effective policing in the City.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE, MS TINA JOEMAT-PETTERSSON.
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