Abstract:
Traffic policing, enforcement of the city’s by-laws, and preventing and combating crime in cooperation with the South African Police Service (SAPS) stand at the forefront of the Municipal Police Service (MPS) main mandate. South Africa has eight Metropolitan Police Departments (MPDs) across five provinces (namely Ekurhuleni (EMPD), Johannesburg (JMPD), Tshwane (TMPD), Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, Durban Metro Police Service, and the Cape Town Metropolitan Police Department). Two of these metros (i.e., Mangaung and Nelson Mandela Bay) are yet to be operationalised due to implementation issues and court-related matters. The nature of the mandate, responsibilities, and roles of the MPS in South Africa is quite complex, owing to the fragmented and often cumbersome legislative framework.
Multiple theoretical frameworks through five theories were applied guided by their applicability and relevancy to the current study. Through an interpretivist research paradigm adopting a qualitative mono-single case study strategy, 14 TMPD metro police officers were interviewed to understand their experiences, perceptions, and opinions in their role in the municipal asset protection mandate. Atlas.ti, a qualitative data analysis software was used to analyse data. Five themes emerged: legislative loopholes, synergy inter-and intra-stakeholders, challenges with the asset protection mandate, strategy-oriented mandate, and improvement strategies.
The results of the study revealed a variety of challenges experienced by metro police officers such as the insufficient and inadequate allocation of resources, inadequate management support in the provision of resources, dissatisfaction with remuneration practices and promotion opportunities, lack of regular performance management and evaluation systems, ineffective and inefficient strategy-oriented mandate, lack of effective technology-aided crime prevention techniques and strategies, lack of adequate capacity development interventions and inadequate collaboration with CPFs especially in townships.
Based on the findings and drawing from the limitations of the study, the recommendations for future research are provided, so that a comprehensive understanding of the role of traffic and law enforcement officers in crime prevention and protecting assets of the metropolitan municipalities can be enhanced lack of clarity on the articulating the crime prevention mandate, in the context of MPDs, especially the municipal asset protection function. The contribution of the study is three-fold – empirical and theoretical, methodological, and practical contributions.
