Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has been forced to disband his traffic wardens, known as amaPanyaza, after a dispute about their status.
Since the launch in 2023, there has been a dispute about whether the amaPanyaza should operate as peace officers, crime prevention wardens or traffic wardens.
While Lesufi intended that they assist in combating crime in Gauteng, it appears the police had taken issue with their legitimacy and operational status.
Their legitimacy was also raised by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who said that as much as Lesufi had good intentions, the amaPanyaza were not necessarily legal.
This dispute led to Lesufi on Wednesday announcing he will disband the amaPanyaza in a phased way.
The more than 8,000 wardens will instead undergo intense training to be absorbed into the Gauteng traffic police, special law enforcement unit and other security partners, including border management and municipal police departments.
“They will cease to exist in their current form. This will be done in a phased approach.
“To do so, they are now taken back to training to enter into extensive training for the next 18 to 36 months so they can qualify to be part of the Gauteng traffic police.
“Those who can’t qualify for this training will be assigned to municipalities for bylaw enforcement or the provision of security services in government departments after acquiring the necessary training.”
The amaPanyaza were announced by Lesufi during his maiden speech as part of his efforts to fight crime in the province.
During this speech he also announced he was planning to secure helicopters to strengthen policing.
Lesufi said he could not allow the “misunderstanding” between him and the SAPS to affect not only policing in the province but also the livelihoods of the more than 8,000 employees.
Instead of disbanding the unit and retrenching them, he entered into agreements to give them more training and repurpose them.
During the course of their training they will continue to receive their stipends from the provincial government, while he envisions that there will be other costs later when they join the Gauteng traffic police, as they would need uniforms and weapons, among other things.
Lesufi said the introduction of the crime and traffic wardens reduced crime, especially at events where patrons regularly had their cellphones stolen and the lights of their vehicles stolen.
“The deployment of these wardens minimised, if not eroded, those complaints. They are the first to arrive and the last to leave at some of these events. They have played a meaningful role. So it would be reckless for us to remove them. That is why we don’t want to find ourselves squabbling when crime is continuing.
“We will swallow our pride and retrain them because South Africans have also complained about their training capability. We’ll reinforce them with the necessary skills.”
TimesLIVE
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