Suspended EMPD head reaffirms call for metro cops to be granted investigative powers

Suspended head of Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) Isaac Mapiyeye has reaffirmed the call for metro police in the country to be granted investigative powers.

Mapiyeye is testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria on Thursday.

He was placed on precautionary suspension in September last year, after being accused of sexually assaulting and intimidating a female staff member.

While it remains unclear what the crux of Mapiyeye’s testimony relates to, it’s believed that he will talk to the allegations of the current acting EMPD head, Julius Mkhwanazi, who has been implicated in the commission of having links to criminally accused tender tycoon Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.

It’s been a long-standing debate and question in South Africa whether metro police units should be granted powers to investigate cases for prosecution.

According to Mapiyeye, they should.

He makes an example of drunk driving: “You arrest a drunken driver. You hand over the blood samples at the police station. At times you don’t even get feedback as to what happened with that blood box. At times they don’t even arrive at the lab.”

Mapiyeye said very few metro officers get called to testify in cases before the courts, because investigations are done by the South African Police Service (SAPS).

“If we were doing that by ourselves, if we had additional powers, we can do much better to benefit our community and reduce the level of crime in our cities.”

A 2019 parliamentary research paper found a major challenge for metro police is their limitations in terms of investigative powers for traffic and bylaw-related crimes.

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