WC govt to present memorandum to national govt asking for municipal police officers to investigate crime

CAPE TOWN - Western Cape government officials are set to issue national government with a memorandum on Friday, requesting that municipal police officers be allowed to investigate crime in the province.

The memorandum comes as a wave of ongoing shootings sweeps across the province, with lives being lost almost daily.

Statistics show more than 800 people have been killed in the Western Cape due to gang violence in the past year, with more than 300 children murdered.

Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said he met with Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia, who indicated that he was open to the devolution of policing powers in the province.

Winde met with City of Cape Town Mayco member for safety and security, JP Smith, and MEC for community safety police oversight, Anroux Marais, at the Western Cape provincial parliament on Friday.

The officials signed a memorandum requesting national government to allow municipal police officers to investigate crime in the province.

"You cannot get consequences to crime if you do not have the wherewithal to get those consequences, and that means with an arrest, there's got to be an investigation, so we can hand it over the criminal justice system, so that justice can prevail."

Winde said the memorandum would be handed to Cachalia and the Department of Justice on Friday.