The Speaker of the City of Cape Town, Alderman Dirk Smit, today, responds to claims made by the City’s ANC Caucus regarding councillor safety. 

Yesterday, 12 October 2020, the City’s ANC Caucus released a statement regarding a recent incident wherein one of the City’s councillors and his family were robbed at gun point, at his home, during the course of last week.

The statement also alleges and bemoans the fact that councillors at the City of Cape Town are not receiving the necessary protection; that the City’s Law Enforcement department has not done enough, and calls upon my Office to take the appropriate action in this regard.

What the statement fails to mention is, that upon being notified of this incident by the Councillor in question, my Office acknowledged receipt, referred the councillor’s request for stress leave to the Office of the Chief Whip of Council, and confirmed that it would investigate the alleged non-response of Law Enforcement to the activation of his home panic button at the time.

I would however like to remind Councillor Heynes, the current Acting Chief Whip of the ANC, and the statement’s author – who was also included into the correspondence issued to the councillor in question - that councillor safety, as with any other ordinary South African citizen, lies with the South African Police Service (SAPS) which is a national government function.

The City Council is not responsible for councillor safety and there is a ceiling to the assistance that Council can provide for all councillors in this regard. Such mechanisms usually include the installation of a panic button at the affected councillor’s home or office, upon the advice of the City’s VIP unit, following a threat assessment of the councillor/s in question.

The onus remains on the councillor to report the matter to SAPS for investigation, and to improve security measures at their private homes by upgrading their security and/alarm systems and linking same to a private security company, as many other ordinary South African citizens are required to do, in order to safeguard their homes and families.

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