Premier and Minister welcome policing Memorandum of Understanding

Premier Alan Winde and Western Cape Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety Anroux Marais welcomed the intended signing of the policing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Western Cape Government (WCG), national government, and the City of Cape Town (CoCT), which will take place in Cape Town on Friday, 30 August.

Premier Winde said, “It is an encouraging step towards more collaborative policing, based on evidence and data, which has been at the heart of the Western Cape Government's approach to addressing crime as outlined in our Safety Plan. My sincere hope is that this MoU will translate into the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape being adequately resourced to more effectively do its job in making communities safer. We must learn from the past and constantly revisit policing models based on our data-led approach. While we will work closer with the SAPS, thanks to this agreement, the WCG will still push for the devolution of policing powers because we believe that it is in the local sphere where you can make a major difference.”

Minister Marais said, “This MoU has long been a priority of the Western Cape Government, but it has taken up until now to come to fruition. The role of the Western Cape Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety is of coordination and oversight, and I am satisfied with the outcome. Far too often in the past, the relationships between spheres of government regarding crime-fighting in the Western Cape were confrontational rather than cooperative. I wish to thank Alderman JP Smith for being steadfast in the battle against crime. And I want to commend the national Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu, for his willingness to start a new chapter of cooperation in the best interest of our residents.”

“Our people suffer at the hands of extortionists - be they small-scale criminals who rob the lady trying desperately to make ends meet by selling vegetables or the self-styled construction mafia which has a devasting impact on our economy. Our people suffer at the hands of murderers, gangsters, robbers, rapists, hijackers and every other type of criminal. Crime can only be beaten if we all work together. The Western Cape Government therefore welcomes this step towards beating crime and we give it our full support,” the Minister added.

Premier Winde urged stakeholders to implement the MoU with urgency and to see that it fully embraces technology and intelligence, “Backed by intelligence-gathering and technological enhancements, we can give our SAPS members and Law Enforcement officers an added edge to stay one step ahead of criminals.”

The Minister continued, “The priority areas of cooperation will include, among others, the creation of a shared safer city vision that maximises integrated relationships with all spheres of government and civil society; the development of programmes, plans, interventions and infrastructure that will reduce the levels of crime, ensuring crime intelligence cooperation to enhance the effectiveness of crime prevention, detection, and response strategies; sharing of data, physical resources and skills to improve effectiveness of law enforcement and policing; offering City facilities, buildings and land for use by SAPS and provincial government as needed; and establishing a programme to address sexual offences and related Gender Based Violence and Femicide.”

“This MoU will be followed by an implementation agreement which will address the practicalities, and we look forward to those negotiations being finalised in the same spirit that we have experienced so far,” Minister Marais concluded.