Cape Town – Civil society has slammed the City of Cape Town for conducting a public participation process during the lockdown for its controversial Streets, Public Places and the Prevention of Noise Nuisances Amendment by-law.
Last month, the City published
its draft amendment to the by-law and the public had until Sunday to comment.
The by-law, which relates to the management of public places, noise levels and other incidental matters on all properties within Cape Town, allows for an authorised official to instruct a person who is in contravention of the by-law to leave and remain out of an area, and without a warrant, to stop, enter and search any vessel, vehicle, premises or person for a prima facie offence.
Activist organisation Ndifuna
Ukwazi said other than substantive problems with the by-law, the City’s approach also posed serious procedural concerns.
“It has snuck in a ‘participation process’ in the midst of the lockdown, meaning that those most impacted by the proposed by-law including individuals who are homeless, sex workers and informal traders will not have an opportunity to engage with issues directly affecting them.”
The organisation said it opposed the proposed amendment to the by-law because it represented a continuation of colonial and apartheid legislation that sought to remove black and poor people from public spaces.
“The by-law further criminalises certain behaviour that homeless people by necessity have to do in public. The amendment would allow officials to forcefully evict homeless people from their ordinary place of residence and impose a fine or imprisonment, or both,” the organisation said.
The Women’s Legal Centre submitted an 18-page document detailing its objections to the draft amendment.
Women’s Legal Centre legal practitioner Charlene May said: “We are particularly concerned that the City is seeking to broaden the scope of powers of the law enforcement officials who are considered peace officers, but who are definitely not police officers.
“The public consultation process has been interrupted by the national lockdown. During this time, many in the city have had other concerns and would not have had an opportunity to engage with the content.
"The City should have withdrawn the draft, or at the very least
extended the time period to allow for proper public consultation and engagement.”
Stop CoCT founder Sandra Dickson said the City wanted to give its officials the same powers as the police and the SA National Defence Force.
“The amendments basically give any authorised official of the City the right to chase anyone from
an area, search any property on suspicion, confiscate goods on you on suspicion, arrest you and charge you if the City incurs any costs doing so,” said Dickson.
Mzwakhe Nqavashe, chairperson for the safety and security portfolio committee, said the City’s law enforcement department already had increased powers that were conferred on it by the Ministry of Justice in 2018.
“The amendments to the by-law were meant to reflect these increased powers.
“These are amendments to an existing section of the by-law and they seek to achieve greater parity with the Criminal Procedures Act, which is a national piece of legislation,” Nqavashe said.