A formal complaint by the director of Accountability Now – and regular Daily Friend contributor – Paul Hoffman triggered the Public Protector investigation which has found that Gauteng’s Crime Prevention Wardens (CPW), also known as Amapanyaza (after Premier Panyaza Lesufi) was irregular, unlawful and inconsistent with the Constitution.

Public Protector Advocate Kholeka Gcaleka’s report came just hours after Lesufi announced that the crime prevention wardens would be pulled off the streets and “repurposed”.

EWN reports that the Gauteng government announced that CPW members could apply to undergo training to become provincial traffic officers instead. This is in line with the Public Protector’s recommendations.

Gcaleka’s investigation started two years ago, when Hoffman lodged a complaint on 27 September 2023.

The complaint alleged that, as Gcaleka’s report puts it, Lesufi “has taken it upon himself to paint outside the lines of the law by which he is bound in the way he has gone about establishing the CPWs”, that the “regulatory framework applicable and the rule of law would appear to preclude the Premier from so acting” even though he “remains unrepentant and persists in the illegal deployment of the CPWs”, and that there “is maladministration in the establishment and deployment of the CPWs and that maladministration is that of the Premier”.

The Citizen reports that Gcaleka’s investigation found that the Gauteng Department of Community Safety’s conduct in establishing, recruiting, appointing, and deploying wardens without a supporting legal framework was unlawful and in breach of the Constitution.

Recently, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi told Parliament that he had advised police leadership in a meeting that Lesufi was making a mistake.

“They started a unit which, by law, should not exist. The Mapanya Panya that is famous, I raised that, and I said: ‘This is illegal, it is against the law; the Premier must be advised’. He has good intentions, but this cannot be done. The law does not allow it.”

According to The Citizen, Gcaleka’s report disclosed that evidence before the Public Protector revealed that Faith Mazibuko, former MEC for Community Safety, had applied to former Justice Minister Ronald Lamola in June 2023 for the designation of CPWs as peace officers.

“However, the application by Ms Mazibuko did not indicate the empowering legislation upon which the designation could be made by the DoJCD, which is a prerequisite for a lawful establishment, appointment and designation as peace officers and deployment of the members of a law enforcement unit.”

According to the report, a technical committee was appointed to resolve the legal issues and to propose solutions on the designation of the CPWs as peace officers.

“The committee concluded its work and confirmed that there is no legal authority to support the designation of CPWs in its current form.”

Gcaleka criticised the actions, saying the department’s conduct was inconsistent with section 41(1)(f) and (g) of the Constitution which states that all spheres of government and all organs of state within each sphere must not assume any power or function except those conferred on them in terms of the Constitution and must exercise their powers and perform their functions in a manner that does not encroach on the geographical, functional or institutional integrity of government in another sphere.

“The law neither empowers nor confers upon provincial government any authority to exercise policing powers.

“Any conduct that seeks to assume any power or function not granted by law or to perform functions or powers falling exclusively in another sphere of government shall be unlawful and unconstitutional.”

The Public Protector stated that the department’s conduct in establishing, appointing, deploying and allowing CPWs to participate in operations with SAPS or other law enforcement agencies, without supporting legal authority empowering them to conduct crime prevention duties and enjoy powers in section 40(1)(a) of the CPA, was irregular.

“Accordingly, the allegation that the functionaries of the Gauteng Department of Community Safety and Security irregularly established, appointed and subsequently deployed Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens without an empowering legal framework to perform policing powers is substantiated.”