By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Gauteng’s crime wardens dubbed as “Amapanyaza” should be conferred the same legal status as Gauteng provincial traffic police for them to be legally recognised.
This was determined by minister of justice and correctional services Ronald Lamola in response to a request by the Gauteng provincial government in June to designate the wardens as peace officers as outlined in the Criminal Procedure Act.
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced the deployment of 6,000 peace officers in his inaugural State of the Province Address, punting them as a force multiplier for police as part of the crime prevention strategy for Gauteng.
He allocated over R1 billion to the fight against crime, which would include training and the procurement of high-tech equipment and cars for the wardens– among others.
However, Lesufi did so without first getting authorisation from Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola who, under section 334(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedures Act, has the authority to confer peace officer status to any person by their office, to exercise power under the Criminal Procedure Act, any offence, or any designated class of offences.
More than 3,000 wardens were deployed onto the streets of Gauteng’s crime hotspot in May this year. However, Lesufi only approached the minister’s office with a request for the gazetting of the wardens under the Department of Community Safety in June.
“After conducting a thorough analysis of the applicable legal frameworks, it was determined that for the Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens to exercise peace officer powers, they must assume the same legal status as Gauteng Provincial traffic officers.
“Provincial traffic officers currently carry out their duties within the ambit of their peace officer designation, supported by the necessary legal framework,” said Lamola’s spokesperson Chrispin Phiri on Tuesday.
This means the wardens can no longer operate under the South African Police Service.
Asked about whether this has implications on the scope and remuneration of the wardens, who earn a R4,000 stipend during their training that lasts between three and six months and then a salary after graduating, Phiri said he couldn’t speak to that.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the detail we can regulate at the level of Justice.
“But safe to say they will be a force multiplier for Gauteng Traffic Police, not the South African Police Service.”
There have been recent reports of the wardens crashing more than 20 of the government-owned BMWs and overstepping their mandate following allegations of assaults.