Options for City Police Services

This paper is concerned with the demand for the establishment of local authority policing agencies and possible forms of self-policing in Gauteng

The implementation of city policing is currently one of the most important items on the political agenda in Gauteng. The issue of crime has been used extensively as a mobiliser for public support by many of the parties competing in the recent local government elections in the province. It is also clear that the omnipresence and the increasing levels of violent crime in the suburbs, townships and central business districts, have entrenched the idea that the South African Police Services (SAPS) do not have the ability to address the situation. With this perception having taken root, the search for solutions to this apparent anarchy has reached further than the mere upgrading and reorientation of the SAPS. In a recent paper, Shaw puts it succinctly: "Sections of the citizenry are undoubtedly unwilling to wait for the uncertain benefits of police transition, and have made their own arrangements to protect themselves and their possessions. The result is a substantial growth in private security establishments, demands for the establishment of local authority policing agencies and possible forms of self-policing, all of which could have an important impact on how South Africa is policed in future." It is with these `demands for the establishment of local authority policing`, particularly in Gauteng, that this paper is concerned.  

Author

Dirk Besdziek, Researcher, Gauteng Legislature