Cape Town Metro Police Officers held to the highest standards
Prior to any media reporting and yesterday's Safety and Security Portfolio Committee meeting, the City of Cape Town agreed to the re-opening of the investigation into the incident of ill-discipline by four Metro Police officers (see Cape Argus report here). The fact that the case was picked up by both the Portfolio Committee as well as the Civilian Oversight Committee (CIVOC) is proof that the checks and balances of the City work well and that no case is allowed to slip through.
The City is determined to root out all of forms of misconduct among its law enforcement officials, and transgressors are dealt with through strict disciplinary procedures. They have had an excellent track record in this regard over the last few years which have distinguished them from other cities and policing services plagued by corruption and misconduct.
In Cape Town no official or politician is above the law and our enforcement services have not hesitated to act against Councillors (both of the governing party and the opposition) or officials - even senior ones. We effected the rapid dismissal of senior officers found guilty of misconduct, including a former Metro Police Chief.
The relevant directorate had previously commissioned an independent audit of all serious disciplinary matters in the department by an outside attorney, with a view to strengthening further existing disciplinary systems. The audit is currently underway and will likely be completed by the end of the month.
One of the anticipated outcomes of this audit will be the addition of a centralised Internal Affairs Unit within the office of the Executive Director, which will oversee the disciplinary investigations and proceedings conducted by the various different policing and emergency services.
It must be borne in mind that this highly regrettable incident is an isolated exception for the City of Cape Town's Metro Police Department as the overall the disciplinary record of the Cape Town Metro Police (and the other services) is exemplary, based on a number of independent studies conducted on the Metro Police forces across South Africa.
In research conducted on corruption amongst Metro Police, it was found that in Johannesburg more than 160 people admitted to bribes being solicited and paid to Metro Police officers for various transgressions of the law. Cape Town's results showed three.
Cape Town remains the only metro which makes disciplinary findings public by presenting the outcomes in open forums such as the Portfolio Committee meetings. It is also one of only two cities that have a functioning Civilian Oversight Committee to ensure that matters such as these are subjected to independent scrutiny.
In the case of Cape Town, the CIVOC is truly independent and is empowered to re-open cases when it feels that discipline has been dealt with inadequately - a power that it has exercised in recent years.
We are also the only metro which makes the disciplinary findings public on the city's website, demonstrating this administration's commitment to transparency, accountability and good practice - without which the report in the media would not have been possible.
Statement issued by Alderman J.P. Smith, Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, City of Cape Town, September 7 2013
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