Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has warned that proposals to give municipal police services criminal investigation powers may face constitutional barriers.
Cachalia addressed the issue during a meeting of Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee, where officials presented the South African Police Service Amendment Bill.
He said he had obtained legal advice after receiving representations from Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
According to Cachalia, some of the mayor’s recommendations were not consistent with section 205 of the Constitution.
However, he said he remained open to further discussion.
Cape Town wants metro detectives
The dispute follows Hill-Lewis’s announcement that Cape Town plans to establish a metro police detective branch.
The City has also declared an intergovernmental dispute after attempts to engage Cachalia and previous police ministers.
DA MP Lisa Schickerling questioned why the amendment bill would allow metro police to perform public-order policing duties without giving suitably trained officers investigative authority.
She argued that metro officers can arrest suspects but must hand investigations to an overstretched SAPS.
Schickerling asked why a national accreditation framework could not be used to authorise capable municipal officers under common standards.
Consensus needed before powers expand
Cachalia said the debate affected the Constitution and municipal governance across the country.
He argued that political parties would first need to build consensus on whether metro police should receive some investigative powers.
The minister also warned that municipal police services in several parts of South Africa had shown serious capacity weaknesses.
He said he did not want to close the debate, but questioned whether the current amendment bill was the correct vehicle for such a change.
Opposition parties criticise City
Cape Town ANC leader Ndithini Tyhido rejected the City’s intergovernmental dispute, accusing the DA of attempting to take national policing powers through political pressure.
GOOD Party secretary-general Brett Herron also described Hill-Lewis’s announcement as electioneering.
He said previous disputes launched by the City and Western Cape government over devolving policing functions had failed to deliver a final outcome.
The debate remains unresolved, with Cachalia calling for broader political agreement before any expansion of metro police powers is considered.