Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis says he has spoken with the new police minister about devolving power to the province.
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Hill-Lewis stated this in the council meeting yesterday morning while outlining the priorities of the Government of National Unity (GNU).
The City’s top advocacy agenda items include giving municipal police the authority to investigate crime, devolving passenger rail to the city, releasing national mega-properties for affordable housing, increasing social housing subsidies, halting grant cuts and reducing red tape to spur economic growth.
On policing, Hill-Lewis stated that the City was particularly advocating for the devolution of criminal investigative powers so that officers could help build prosecution-ready case dockets and obtain convictions, particularly for gang, gun, drug and extortion crimes.
‘Our only purpose is to try and help win the war on crime. We need to pull resources, we need to have some of that additional enforcement powers for our officers so that we can do more.’
Hill-Lewis said he received an almost immediate response from Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, and they met on Wednesday night.
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‘I told him that I have not had a meeting like that with a national government, certainly not with the police minister. The meeting was positive and productive. He said he felt positive about the legislative amendment. I’m very hopeful about that.’
Mchunu confirmed that he met with provincial and city officials to discuss combating Cape Town’s crime problem.
Asked about the devolution of powers, Mchunu replied: ‘The main focus is dealing with murder, kidnapping, extortion, rape, hijackings and housebreaking. We will continue to engage with the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government.’
Hill-Lewis also stated that he spoke with Mchunu about the urgency of the extortion and construction mafia in Cape Town. ‘I really believe that this needs a Cabinet-level intervention and national task force to work on construction mafia and extortion gangs.’
Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Dean Macpherson said he would meet with the mayor over the construction mafia.
‘I have had informal discussions with him. I am planning to meet him. We have issues of mutual interest that we would like to talk about, properties, land and court cases.’
‘We will also include the construction mafia and I would like to commend him about the stance he took against the mafia, offering rewards, empowering law enforcement to go after them, and that is the kind of stance I want to see across the country,’ he said.
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Picture: Brenton Geach / Gallo Images