How genuine is DA's push for policing devolution?

THE call to devolve some police powers to the provinces and metro councils, has been a drum beaten by the Democratic Alliance (DA) for some time. But will it make a difference or is just about the DA thinking that they can do it better than the ANC?

- THEOLIN TEMBO [e-mail]

The DA runs the Western Cape province as well as the City of Cape Town and has within the Government of National Unity, the chairmanship of the police portfolio committee in parliament. The province and city is racked by gang violence, and there is frustration that the national police can't seem to get a handle on it.

Michael Jacobs of the Mitchell’s Plain United Residents Association (MURA) said that every day in a suburb on the Cape Flats, a life is lost through gang and gun violence.

“These violent incidents sketch a picture of abnormality, fear, and the sheer brutality faced by ordinary residents on the streets.

“We need to acknowledge that all levels of government — national, provincial, and municipal — have failed our bullet-ridden and gang-infested communities on the Cape Flats, Atlantis, Paarl, and elsewhere where gangsterism thrives.