Mthethwa bid to halt Khayelitsha policing
commission fails
by Staff
writer, January 14 2013, 11:07
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Police
Minister Nathi Mthethwa. Picture: SOWETAN
THE
Western Cape High Court on Monday dismissed an application by Police Minister
Nathi Mthethwa for an urgent interdict against the establishment of a
commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.
Mthethwa
last year argued that Western Cape Premier Helen Zille’s decision to appoint
the commission would have an impact on the independence of the South African
Police Service (SAPS).
He was
responding to counter arguments by advocates representing Ms Zille,
nongovernmental organisation the Social Justice Coalition, and the commission
itself.
Adv Peter
Hawthorne, acting for the Social Justice Coalition, told the court Mr
Mthethwa’s legal team had failed to prove the commission would cause
irreparable harm to the SAPS.
The court
was packed with Social Justice Coalition activists on Monday.
The
activists had led the call for the commission to be established following a
string of vigilante killings in Khayelitsha.
Community
members complained police inaction had led to residents taking the law into
their own hands.
The
commission was meant to hold public hearings from November 12 to December 14
but was suspended pending the outcome of Mr Mthethwa’s application.
Headed by
retired Constitutional Court judge Kate O’Regan and former National Prosecuting
Authority head Vusi Pikoli, the commission was established by Ms Zille in
August 2012.
After Ms
Zille turned down Mr Mthethwa’s request to delay the commission in August, he
said in November that he would approach the courts. "We do not question
her powers to set up such a commission, however, remain convinced that there
were various avenues where the issue could have been raised, but never
was," he said at the time.
Ms Zille
was prompted to institute the commission of inquiry after complaints from
nonprofit organisations and community organisations in Khayelitsha about the
lack of effective policing in the township, giving rise to vigilante groups
taking matters into their own hands and killing suspected criminals.
Some
commentators have argued that the scope of such a commission should be broader,
as the profile of crime in Khayelitsha is not unique.
Sapa,
with BDlive writers
