Land invasions, protests add immensely to pressure on Cape Town law enforcers

Protests and land invasions have escalated sharply in the City of Cape Town‚ diverting law enforcement officers‚ Metro Police and traffic services from their core duties.

This was revealed on Monday when the city released its latest “enforcement statistics”‚ revealing that its own enforcement agencies made 12‚063 arrests in the previous financial year‚ excluding warrant arrests‚ a 17% increase on the preceding period.

Some of the key trends to emerge in the preceding 12 months included a 53% yearon-year increase in the number of land invasions recorded and a 249% increase in the number of protests.

“This resulted in a knock-on effect on planned enforcement operations for law enforcement‚ Metro Police and traffic services, as resources had to be diverted to assist the SA Police Service in terms of public order policing‚ effecting road closures and diverting traffic.

“Apart from the fact that other enforcement priorities were compromised‚ there was also the cost of damage to city infrastructure and resources like buildings and vehicles‚ as well as a financial impact due to overtime costs‚” the city said.

Law enforcement staff also had to focus on transgressions of the water bylaw amid an increase in complaints about water abuse during the drought.

Taxi-related strikes‚ a wagerelated strike by bus operators and ongoing arson attacks on Metrorail’s infrastructure not only took a toll on but also put strain on the road network and enforcement staff employed to police transgressions.

“We recorded a 100% increase in the number of overloading offences in the public transport sector.

“While there is no definitive proof‚ we cannot rule out the possibility that this might be a reflection of the battle that commuters have had and continue to have in getting to and from work‚ and the willingness of some operators to cash in on the instability in the sector – with no regard for the lives of their passengers‚” the city said.

Criminals were also targeting city law enforcement staff for their firearms.

“The Metro Police department noted a 180% increase in attacks on staff year on year‚ from 21 in 2016/2017 to 59 in 2017/2018.

“The result is that we have to reconfigure our deployment patterns and have more officers working in groups to ensure their safety.

“An officer who has been traumatised by an attack needs time off work to recover; some do so sooner than others

“What this means is fewer officers on patrol to ensure public safety‚” the city said. –