DA welcomes Mayor Hill-Lewis' call for devolution of policing powers

18 August 2022

The DA in the Western Cape strongly supports the City of Cape Town Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis’ letter to the Minster of Police, Bheki Cele, calling for the urgent devolution of policing powers to the City of Cape Town.

The Premier of the Western Cape, Alan Winde, has also been calling for the devolution of policing powers to the Provincial Government.

South Africans are living in fear as violent acts of crime increase and criminals are not brought to book due to a deficient criminal justice system. Minister Cele is failing to do his job and Western Cape residents should not bear the burden of his incompetence.

The Western Cape has seen many successes with the Law Enforcement Advancement Programme and we have seen a significant decline in violent crime across crime hotspots in Cape Town. We have also seen strides made with the establishment of Joint Operation Centers across the province that utilizes state-of-the-art technology to fight crime in our communities.

But we need to do more. We need to make our communities safer, and we need to do it now.

President Ramaphosa and Minister Cele must stop stalling and allow our local and provincial governments to take over the police service. We have proven that we can do a much better job.

Today, the DA also launched a new billboard against the failing Police Minister. Until President Ramaphosa realises the gravity of the crisis we are in and acknowledges the failures of his Minister and his government to make us safer, we will not let this go.

Issued by Tertuis Simmers, DA Provincial Leader, Western Cape, 18 August 2022