WC govt to again call for devolution of police powers during sitting of House

CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape government will on Thursday again call for the devolution of policing powers during a sitting of the House in the provincial legislature.

A separate call from the province's department of police oversight and community safety for a strategy to deploy detectives based on crime trends and caseload pressure will also be heard.

A debate on the recent surge of shootings in the province will also be held during the sitting.

Statistics presented to the provincial parliament recently revealed the average caseload per detective in the province is 111, almost double the best-practice benchmark of 60 cases.

The Democratic Alliance (DA)'s spokesperson for police oversight and community safety, Benedicta van Minnen, said the caseload undermined the ability of detectives to investigate cases, delayed justice and allowed criminals to evade prosecution.

"All statistics point to the fact that the national government has failed to adequately resource and support SAPS in the Western Cape. We urgently need intervention from the minister of police to devolve policing powers and ensure more detectives are recruited, properly trained, and deployed to high-crime areas."

Van Minnen said that Thursday's debate in the provincial legislature would serve as a critical platform to hold both the SAPS and the parole board accountable for their failure to protect citizens.