BDLive reports that the DA-led city of Cape Town and the Western Cape provincial government have threatened to approach the courts to challenge the constitutionality of the white paper on policing which was approved by the Cabinet in April.  

In a joint statement on Monday, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille and Western Cape community safety MEC Dan Plato, raised concerns that the white paper as it stands would take metro police departments away from municipalities and places them under the control of the SA Police Service (SAPS).  "We believe that this suggested centralised force is a replica of apartheid policing forces.  Policing should in fact be more decentralised, and the metro police system should be allowed to operate where it is in working order," De Lille and Plato said in the statement.  The white paper sets out reasons for the creation of this single police force, including that limited resources in SA do not allow for "the huge duplication of functions".

• Read this report by Bekezela Phakathi in full at BDLive
• See too, Challenge on the cards over 'apartheid-style' policing white paper, at News24

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