Police vs metro cops

The police in Cape Town are at loggerheads with the metro cops there about the issuing of search warrants.

Each blames the other for compromising the fight against crime.

Earlier this week, the head of the police's Nyanga cluster, Jeremy Veary, called on the city's metro cops to withdraw from a joint crime-fighting operation in the region. Nyanga has the country's highest murder rate.

But some believe that Veary's call is politically motivated.

Last month, Western Cape Premier Helen Zille launched a commission of inquiry into police activity in Khayelitsha following complaints from NGOs and the local community about their response to crime.

Yesterday, Veary's superiors came to his support, saying metro cops did not have the legal authority to issue search warrants.

Head of the police's provincial operational services Peter Jacobs said: "In exceptional circumstances, [the police] can issue a search warrant but generally search warrants are to be issued by a magistrate."

The Department of Justice's Western Cape head, Hishaam Mohamed, said Veary was not "grandstanding" but simply adhering to the law.

But Cape Town's mayoral committee member responsible for law and order, JP Smith, disputed this.

Smith said search warrants were always issued to the metro police by SAPS commissioned officers - as prescribed by law.

"We were invited by the police to be part of a joint operation and we pulled in resources from other areas. But, two days after [Veary] was appointed, the operation was stopped."

Zille said she would raise the issue when she meets Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa but would not say if she believed the move was politically motivated.