New police fight with DA

A new showdown between Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and the Western Cape government is on the cards.

The provincial government last week approved the Western Cape Community Safety Bill which, among other things, gives the provincial authorities the power to give the provincial commissioner the boot.

Premier Helen Zille is expected to sign it into law this month.

Khaya Magaxa, an ANC member of the legislature, said almost 90% of those who attended public hearings rejected the bill.

"If the DA respects people's participation in a democracy, then what informs them to continue with the bill?" asked Magaxa.

"It is creating unnecessary confusing and parallel structures.

"The provincial police commissioner is accountable to the national police minister, [ so] to what extent is that commissioner going to take orders from a politician at the level of the province?"

The bill states that the commissioner will have to account for "the number of firearms issued to police officials which have been lost or stolen, and the circumstances under which they have been lost or stolen", the number of complaints relating to police misconduct, and statistical information "regarding the number and nature of crimes".

Zille and Mthethwa are engaged in a legal tussle in the Constitutional Court over the establishment of a commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.