Modest beginnings, high hopes: The Western Cape Police Ombudsman
Loading...
Date
2018
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
South African Crime Quarterly
Abstract
In 2013 the Western Cape legislature passed the Western Cape Community Safety Act (WCCSA) to improve monitoring of and oversight over the police. One creation of the WCCSA is the Western Cape Police Ombudsman, which became operational in 2015. This article reviews its history and context, as well as results from its first year. The Police Ombudsman, the only one in the country, must be seen as one of the results of efforts by the opposition-held province to carve out more powers in the narrowly defined constitutional space, and in so doing to exercise more effective oversight and monitoring of police performance, and improve police–community relations. The Ombudsman must also be seen against the backdrop of poor police–community relations in Cape Town and the subsequent establishment of a provincial commission of inquiry into the problem, a move that was opposed by the national government, contesting its constitutionality. Results from the Ombudsman’s first 18 months in operation are modest, but there are promising signs. Nonetheless, the office is small and it did not do
itself any favours by not complying with its legally mandated reporting requirements.
Description
Keywords
Western Cape, Police Ombudsman, South African Police Service, Monitoring of and oversight
Citation
Muntingh, L. (2018). 'Modest beginnings, high hopes: The Western Cape Police Ombudsman’ .South African Crime Quarterly, 64: 17-27