CAPE TOWN, Western Cape — Driven by a staggering 5% conviction rate for violent gun crimes, the campaign for expanded Cape Town metro police powers has officially evolved into a formal constitutional clash. After years of stalled negotiations, the municipality has lodged an intergovernmental dispute against the national government, arguing that withholding crucial investigative authority from local law enforcement is both irrational and unconstitutional.
The aggressive legal maneuver highlights a deepening frustration within the municipality over its inability to translate daily street-level arrests into meaningful jail time. According to Safety and Security Portfolio Committee member Yusuf Mohamed, local authorities—working in tandem with the provincial LEAP program—successfully confiscate at least one illegal firearm from the streets every single day. Yet, because the South African Police Service (SAPS) is overwhelmingly backlogged with detective and forensic work, the conviction rate for these severe offenses stagnates at roughly 5%.
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has been highly critical of the national government’s ongoing refusal to devolve these authorities. The city maintains that granting expanded Cape Town metro police powers is not about creating a rival police force, but rather about plugging a critical gap in the criminal justice system to target gang violence, extortion, drug trafficking, and illegal firearms.
A Constitutional Deadlock, Not a Lawsuit
Mohamed clarified that the newly lodged intergovernmental dispute is not an act of traditional litigation. Instead, it is a specific mechanism written into the South African Constitution designed to arbitrate and resolve severe deadlocks between different spheres of government.
The city resorted to this measure only after exhausting all conventional diplomatic channels. Mohamed revealed that municipal leaders had engaged with two separate Ministers of Police regarding the issue. While both ministers reportedly agreed in principle that granting the investigative powers was the correct course of action, the national government has failed to provide the final, necessary signatures to enact the change.
Addressing Misconceptions: Budgets, Mandates, and SAPS
A significant portion of the city’s recent advocacy has been dedicated to dispelling rumors that the municipality intends to usurp or replace SAPS. Mohamed firmly stated that the goal is purely collaborative, aiming to provide the localized investigative muscle that SAPS currently lacks the capacity to sustain.
Furthermore, Mohamed pushed back against misunderstandings regarding how an empowered metro police department would be funded and managed. He emphasized that hiring, salaries, and HR contracts remain entirely separate from operational budgets and are processed through standard municipal HR channels. Any operational budget would be allocated to the directorate of safety and security, strictly monitored by the portfolio committee, and implemented by existing management and commissioners within the city’s established organizational structure.
A Proven Track Record and a Smuggling Crisis
The municipality argues it has already proven its competence in handling devolved national mandates. The Minister of Police has previously granted the city the authority to enforce the Immigration Act and manage crowd and riot control—duties traditionally reserved for SAPS and its Public Order Policing Services (POPS) units.
The need for robust local intelligence and investigative capabilities is underscored by a disturbing trend of high-caliber, military-grade weapons being smuggled into the region from neighboring countries like Namibia. While Mohamed noted he cannot pinpoint the exact smuggling routes without compromising active investigations, he directly linked the influx of these weapons to a broader, national collapse in police intelligence and forensic capabilities. He argued that this under-resourcing at the national level inevitably trickles down, exacerbating local violence.
If the constitutional dispute is resolved in the city’s favor, the successful devolution of these investigative powers could establish a major legal and operational precedent. This would potentially open the door for other municipalities across South Africa to similarly expand their local law enforcement capabilities and assist SAPS in the national fight against violent crime.
