CAPE TOWN, Western Cape — The City of Cape Town’s intensified campaign to secure expanded Metro Police powers has sparked a fierce political backlash, with the African National Congress (ANC) condemning the move as a constitutional overreach and an election-year distraction. After Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis formally declared an intergovernmental dispute over the national government’s refusal to devolve investigative authority to the municipal force, ANC Western Cape convenor Jeremiah Thyssen fired back, labeling the city’s legal maneuver premature and politically motivated.
Mayor Hill-Lewis has described the national government’s ongoing refusal to grant the Metro Police additional powers as both irrational and unconstitutional. The city’s primary argument centers on law enforcement efficiency: municipal officers who seize illegal firearms should be empowered to build and manage criminal cases themselves, rather than handing evidence over to the South African Police Service (SAPS) and watching investigations stall.
However, Thyssen argues that the Democratic Alliance (DA)-led city is attempting to alter the constitutional framework “willy-nilly.” He emphasized that South Africa is a unitary state, not a federal one, and that the 1996 Constitution explicitly vests the responsibility of policing and criminal investigations in the national government through SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). According to Thyssen, municipal law enforcement is strictly mandated to uphold local bylaws and support national police services, and granting investigative powers to local municipalities would make them “constitutional delinquents.”
The ANC spokesperson stressed that declaring an intergovernmental dispute and threatening court action severely harms the principles of cooperative governance. Thyssen urged the city to utilize existing mechanisms within the Government of National Unity (GNU) to discuss and resolve operational shortcomings with the Minister of Police, rather than resorting to litigation between spheres of government. “We can’t play political games with our people’s lives,” Thyssen noted, pointing to the severe crime rates affecting communities on the Cape Flats.
Addressing the argument that local resources are better managed at the municipal level, Thyssen countered that SAPS already receives national funding deployed on a per capita basis to the provinces. He challenged the city to clarify exactly what functions SAPS is failing to perform that the Metro Police needs to take over. Instead of chasing new policing mandates, Thyssen argued the DA-run municipality should focus on its core constitutional responsibilities, such as housing delivery and urban planning.
Thyssen highlighted that building adequate housing to “decant” densely populated informal settlements would drastically improve police accessibility and mobility in high-crime areas. He also suggested that the city collaborate with the Department of Labor on youth employment and activation programs to address the socioeconomic root causes of crime. “Policing is a response to crime… we are missing the boat with this power devolution demand,” he stated.
Ultimately, Thyssen dismissed the push for Metro Police devolution as a mere “sound bite” and a strategic election ploy. He suggested the DA is attempting to regain public ground following recent political and legal setbacks, including unfavorable Constitutional Court rulings regarding the Tafelberg housing site and critical Public Protector reports on service delivery in local townships. By promising policing powers to communities plagued by gangsterism, Thyssen argued the city is offering an inauthentic solution rather than addressing the urgent need for basic municipal service delivery, job creation, and cooperative governance.