Cape Forum supports City of Cape Town’s plans for own detective services; demands total devolution of policing powers

Cape Forum supports the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality’s plan to establish its own detective service within its metro police department following the upcoming local government elections. The organisation welcomes this as a significant step towards the devolution of policing powers – a campaign that Cape Forum, as a civil rights organisation, has been championing since 2022.

“The Constitution obliges the government to protect citizens against the reign of terror of criminals, yet the government is clearly failing in this responsibility,” says Heindrich Wyngaard, Executive Chairperson of Cape Forum. “That is why our organisation welcomes any initiative to create a safer environment for residents of the Western Cape.”

Cape Forum previously approached the Constitutional Court to make provincial referendums a reality. Through this initiative, the organisation aims to gauge the support of Western Cape residents for the devolution of policing powers. This matter is currently before the National Assembly’s Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs.

Against this backdrop, Wyngaard says Cape Forum has informed the Executive Mayor of Cape Town, Geordin Hill-Lewis, that the organisation fully supports the Cape Town Metro’s detective service plan. “Even if this plan is viewed in some quarters as an election gimmick,” he says, “no other mayoral candidate from any other party has come forward with a better anti-crime plan.”

While Cape Forum believes that the fight against crime in the Peninsula – and specifically the Cape Flats – would receive a significant boost if the City of Cape Town Metro could itself conduct investigations into criminal incidents, this intervention alone would not be sufficient.

“The absolute devolution of police powers to well-managed municipalities, metro councils, and provinces is the ultimate solution. This will enable these spheres of government to make their own decisions regarding appointments and the deployment or utilization of resources – rather than having to rely on dysfunctional national police management,” says Wyngaard.

At the same time, Cape Forum wishes to point out to communities that they still bear the responsibility of contributing to the fight against crime by getting involved in initiatives such as neighbourhood watches. Even more importantly, residents must share information about crime with the police to ensure proper investigations.

Wyngaard says: “Cape Forum is aware that trust levels between the police and communities are as low as 22%, but this cannot serve as an excuse for communities to withhold information from investigators.”

Cape Forum plans to hold a protest outside the National Assembly at the beginning of August in support of the organisation’s referendum campaign.