Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis has accused Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia of failing to engage with the City for nearly a month over its push for Metro Police officers to be given investigative powers, as the debate intensifies against the backdrop of a deadly surge in shootings and murders across the city.
Cape Argus previously reported that more than 145 people were murdered on the Cape Flats between August 3 and 23, while at least 29 people had already been killed in eight mass shootings since the launch of Operation Prosper in April.
The toll includes the August 8 and 9 bloodshed in which 11 people were killed in three separate mass shootings in Langa, Lingelethu West and Gugulethu. Five people were killed in Langa, three in Khayelitsha and three in Gugulethu, where two others were wounded. Police have since offered rewards of up to R100,000 per case for information leading to arrests and convictions.
The City said Hill-Lewis lodged an intergovernmental dispute on July 29, arguing that the matter requires the parties to promptly engage on a mediation process in terms of the Intergovernmental Relations Framework Act.
