19 January 2008: “Rent-a-Cop” Revived in Cape Town

Cape Town’s businesses and organisations have joined forces with the Cape Town Metro Police to fight crime – on the increase in city centres around the country. This joint initiative, commonly referred to as the “rent-a-cop” project, is a pilot project run in Cape Town and Epping. It allows Cape Town’s City Improvement Districts (CID) and other organisations to hire fully trained Municipal Patrol Officers (MPO) to patrol the districts.

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CID’s are non-profit organisations representing property owners (ratepayers) in a geographical area within a municipality. A CID signs an agreement with the municipality so that more money (in the form of a CID levy) can be collected from ratepayers from a particular area over and above the normal rates charges. The extra money is used to give 'top up' services in the area through the CID. Extra services usually include extra cleaning up of the identified areas, in addition to security.

The idea is not a new one. In 1997, the project was aborted by the city’s mayoral committee because it did not conform to legislation. The programme was resurrected in 2004, only to be laid to rest yet again in December of the same year. The reason provided for this was that reservists, who were intended to be utilised, would have to be paid privately by the city centre, Sea Point and the entire Atlantic Seaboard. According to Anton Visser, Strategic Manager of Cape Towns Safety and Security Department, a letter was written to Commissioner Jackie Selebi, the then National Commissioner of the South African Police Services (SAPS), requesting the services of SAPS reservists for the initiative. The response was that the reservists are exclusively SAPS, and that they could not function under the command of a Metro Police Service.

The initiative is currently undergoing yet another rebirth in the wake of increasing public support and private sector requests. The project, which is now essentially an initiative of the Provincial Safety and Security Department, has been approved by the city’s Safety and Security Portfolio Committee. For the recent festive season, the city planned to make the services of150 fully trained MPOs available. Of course, the extra security comes at a price. The city has to be paid the salaries of MPOs who have undergone a nine-month training programme and completed twelve months of in-service training. These officials will be contracted for three-months and, should the project prove successful, they will be contracted for an extended period of twelve months. The private sector i.e. businessses, channel funds into an account created by the city solely for the purpose of enabling additional training and recruitment. The MPOs are employed by the city and are deployed exclusively to a designated area. Should their services be needed elsewhere, they can be redeployed and, after the situation is under control, they may return to their respective CID areas. As stated in Section 6(2) of the Systems Act, it is required that the city be responsive to the need of the local community. It is evident that the project has advantages and has great potential for expansion. The growth of the project can translate into employment opportunities in communities, whilst working towards curbing crime. MPOs also act as security on the city’s trains and provide back-up for the closed circuit television camera system.

Although the project was terminated in 1997 due to legal complications, it proved successful not only in the central business district areas but also in surrounding disadvantaged areas such as Langa, Nyanga, Mitchell’s Plain, Mannenberg and Gugulethu. With the nearing of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, hosted by South Africa and the increasing concern about the country’s crime rate, the services of the MPOs will be an additional force multiplier to make the event safe and successful.

Lilian Mashele, Intern, Crime, Justice and Politics Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)