Incoming Parly police committee to decide on giving metro police limited investigative powers

JOHANNESBURG - The seventh administration of the parliamentary portfolio committee on police will have to decide on whether to amend the National Police Act to allow metro police to investigate certain cases. 

Metro police members are calling for limited investigative powers to allow them to prosecute cases within their mandate. 

As it stands, only the South African Police Service (SAPS) are allowed to investigate dockets. 

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Chairperson of the parliamentary portfolio committee on policing, Seabi Seabi, told Eyewitness News that by the time they looked at initiating the process of amending the National Police Act, time was not on their side. 

This relates to government's vision to confer limited investigative powers to metro police departments in the country. 

"The current portfolio committee, as part of our legacy report, it was our wish to amend the South African Police Act but because of time constraints and some processes, we couldn’t." 

He says the seventh administration of the portfolio committee on police, who will be elected after the general elections, will decide on whether to push ahead with the amendment. 

"It will be up to them to take it forward and to make sure they amend the act as envisaged." 

Sources within metro police have relayed their frustrations about institutional barriers which prevents them from investigating cases of traffic offences and by-law infringements.