Mixed response to mayor’s metro cop idea

CAPE Flats activists have rejected Cape Town Mayor Geordin HillLewis’ formal request for metro officers to have full crime-fighting powers, saying “City police treat our people like the dirt under their soles.”

During a full Council meeting yesterday, Hill-Lewis confirmed he submitted the request to Police Minister Bheki Cele, saying the Municipality wanted its metro force to have more powers.

“This problem is compounded by the current shortage of more than 500 SAPS detectives in the province… Minister Cele has previously said that he cannot devolve power in the absence of a constitutional amendment.

“This is nonsense. Section 99 of the Constitution provides that ‘a Cabinet member may assign any power or function…to a Municipal Council’,” said Hill-Lewis.

However, with more than 15 years experience in advocating for peace and justice on the Cape Flats, Manenberg Safety Forum founder Roegshanda Pascoe disagreed with the request.

“Under different circumstances I would have really complimented the mayor. I will draw reference to an incident where Kashief Jacobus was beaten to death by Metro Police in Manenberg. Until today, there is no justice for his death. In the crime-related case that I testified in, the special operative team of the City came around the corner while a victim was brutally beaten and stabbed. What they did was reverse out of the road where they could have saved the victim’s life that day. These are things that I have experienced.

“Both parties are deeply rooted with corruption. Both parties are not people-centred but politicallydriven, wanting to score points, but it’s not for the people on the Cape Flats who live in the violence 24/7 every day of our lives. City police treat our people like the dirt under their soles. They also swear at and mistreat our people. This while Saps officers watch dead buildings like parliament more than the people in communities who really need their service,” said Pascoe.

Regional co-ordinator for the United Public Safety Front, Imraahn Mukaddam, said: “What the mayor should be doing is insisting on the capacitation of SAPS and continue to offer a supportive role in combating crime through joint operations between SAPS, Law Enforcement and Metro Police. What the mayor should be focussing on is the hotspots where crime is being perpetrated, such as illegal shebeens, City rental stock being used as gang bases and drug houses. Furthermore, the City must ensure that there are adequate amenities for youth to partake in alternative activities instead of crime.”

Non-profit company, Action Society’s director for Community Safety, Ian Cameron, voiced his support for the request by Hill-Lewis.

“Detectives in poorer communities are completely overworked and under-resourced. And on top of that they have no capacity to combat organised crime,” said Cameron.