Geordin Hill-Lewis, the mayor of Cape Town, has asked the minister of police, Bheki Cele, for expanded powers for the city’s metropolitan police force.
Speaking this week, Hill-Lewis said that he had asked Cele to give the metro police force full crime-fighting powers. Currently, metropolitan police forces can only enforce by-laws and must work with the SAPS to prevent crime. They do not have the power to conduct criminal investigations.
Hill-Lewis was quoted as saying: ‘We want our own, fully-fledged city police force with all the powers it needs to drastically reduce crime in Cape Town. And if the minister is not prepared to give us the powers we seek, we will fight tooth and nail to get them. We are a capable government, and we are capable of achieving much more if the national government devolves more power to us.’
Cape Town is already working to become more independent from Eskom. It has also asked for permission to take over the city’s rail network, as it looks for ways to protect its residents from broader state failure.
Cele previously said that the Constitution prevented the expansion and powers of metropolitan forces. However, the DA has challenged this, with Hill-Lewis’s broadside being the latest salvo in this battle between the DA-governed Western Cape and Pretoria.