Cape Town - AS THE war of words rages over the City’s controversial Safety and Security Investigations Unit (SSIU), experts have thrown light on the legal framework guiding its establishment.
GOOD Party secretary-general and Member of the Provincial Legislature Brett Herron charged this week that the unit was not part of the Municipal Police service, and thus was not subject to the oversight role of the MEC for Community Safety, Albert Fritz and public scrutiny.
Herron also asked the police top brass to investigate the unit, which resurfaced in 2018 after it was shut down in 2017 following accusations that it was involved in investigating murders and attempted murders.
Security analyst Ziyanda Stuurman said the unit must fall within the Municipal Police Services as the power and authority for municipal and metro police services was derived from Section 64 of the Police Act.
“There is no other legal authority for a unit such as the SSIU to be established within any municipality or metro,” said Stuurman, who wrote the book: Can We Be Safe? The Future Of Policing in South Africa.
She also said investigative powers and intelligence gathering activities could only be delegated by the minister of police.
“Such powers can only be delegated by the Minister of Police via Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Act. Together with the South African Police Service Act, the Minister of Police could devolve more powers and duties to the country’s municipal and metro police services, but only the minister may do so and city and provincial governments cannot give themselves those powers or take them,” added Stuurman.
Crime expert and retired policeman, Dr Chris de Kock said crime intelligence gathering powers were granted by the police minister to certain security agencies.
“I can’t see that a Metro Police unit can be granted crime intelligence powers. Otherwise things can go terribly wrong”, De Kock said.
He said even in the case of the Johannesburg metro, which under the the leadership of the then DA’s Herman Mashaba employed a former Hawks member to head a unit to investigate alleged corrupt activities related to tenders between the Metro and the private sector, as far as he knew,. they did not have crime intelligence powers.
In a letter to both Police Minister Bheki Cele and National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole, dated December 23, Herron wrote:
“Despite the MEC and the City claiming that the SIU does not form part of the Municipal Police Service, and is thus not subject to Provincial Government or Provincial Legislature oversight, the SIU is an integral part of the Western Cape Safety Plan and is performing ”shadow criminal investigations“ and gathering “intelligence”.
“It would then mean it is not subject to the Police Act or the national standards set by the National Commissioner. In which case, what is it? A municipal unit that conducts criminal investigations and gathers intelligence but which is not subject to any legislation?
“I submit that a municipal unit, answerable to no one but its political head, conducting investigations and gathering intelligence is dangerous and unlawful. A rogue unit does not help our fight against crime – its operations (whether well intentioned or nefarious) are part of the crime problem in South Africa and without the checks and balance of oversight are a crime and national security risk.”
Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis accused Herron of attempting to undermine the City’s “local policing powers” and efforts to fight crime.
Hill-Lewis said the SSIU’s functions included assisting the SAPS and City enforcement agencies with “watching briefs,” and as such was responsible for the deployment of investigators in the 10 crime hot spots.
“Devolution of power will accelerate over the coming decade – in public transport, electricity, and in policing – and it will happen whether the national government likes it or not,” he said.
The SSIU is headed by Reynold Talmakkies, a former policeman who reportedly faced charges in Mpumalanga for alleged SAPS docket tampering.
On December 21 he appeared in the Bellville magistrate’s court along with two others on fraud and corruption charges related to the City’s housing tender.
City officials would not confirm whether he had been suspended following the December court appearance or why he was kept employed after the charges in Mpumalanga.
Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith refused to be drawn into the saga and would only say “with regards to Mr Talmakkies: this is an ongoing court case”.
Mayor Hill-Lewis is wrong to suggest that my call for an investigation into the City’s SSIU or SIU is a plan to undermine crime fighting in Cape Town.
Herron hit back. “If the City’s SIU operates outside of the law, taking the law into its own hands, then this is criminal activity and nothing more than rogue vigilantism.
“Hill-Lewis’s response to my call for an investigation into the SIU exposes his lack of understanding of the law and is a dangerous contempt for our constitutional order.
“Cape Town deserves to be led by a mayor who accepts that he and his government cannot pick and choose which laws they will comply with and which laws they don’t regard as applying to them.
“If the SIU is a legitimate municipal police service operating within the law then I call on Hill-Lewis to explain what its policing powers are and where they are derived from,” Herron said.
Mayco member for Safety and Security JP Smith said the City had obtained legal opinion that confirmed that the SSIU functioned “well within the law”.
“The SSIU has never reported to a politician and reports to an Executive Director”, Smith said.
Cele’s office could not confirm how he intended to handle Herron’s request.
“As it’s the weekend it may take a while,” said his spokesperson, Lirandza Themba.
SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said he was currently on leave and would not be able to comment.