Call for greater policing powers ahead of Sona

AS PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa arrives in Cape Town to deliver the State of the Nation Address (Sona), the City has renewed its call for enhanced policing powers for municipal law enforcement officers, saying the move is necessary to strengthen the fight against gang, gun and drug-related crime.

- MURRAY SWART

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to deliver the State of the Nation Address (Sona) on Thursday.

(ARMAND HOUGH Independent Newspapers)

Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis said the City’s officers were capable of playing a larger role in investigations and case preparation, but remained limited by the absence of devolved investigative authority.

“There is so much preventable suffering in our gang-impacted communities due to extremely low conviction rates for illegal firearm, drug and gang-related cases,’ Hill-Lewis said.

He said the City believed outcomes could be improved if metro police were allowed to assist the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) by building prosecution-ready case dockets. Hill-Lewis cited City figures indicating that hundreds of illegal firearms are removed from the streets each year, but that convictions in these cases remain low.