Civil groups call for extension deadline
|Published
Cape Town 130410- Metro cop police have launched an anti-crime operation in Lavender Hill and Steenberg after the death of traffic officer Wesley Woodman last week. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Daneel/Argus Cape Town 130410- Metro cop police have launched an anti-crime operation in Lavender Hill and Steenberg after the death of traffic officer Wesley Woodman last week. Picture Cindy waxa.Reporter Daneel/Argus
Cape Town - With only two weeks to comment on the Green Paper on Policing, 27 civil organisations have asked that the deadline for public comment be extended to August 31.
The first draft of the document was released by the police’s civilian secretariat for public comment last month with a July 7 deadline.
The Cape Argus reported last week that a consequence of the document could be that if plans to create a single national police force went ahead, the city’s metro police specialised units dealing with drugs, gangs and copper theft, could be disbanded.
The 27 civic organisations - including Social Justice Coalition, Childline, Legal Resources Centre and the Institute for Security Studies - have written to Jenni Irish-Qhobosheane, secretary for the police’s civilian secretariat, asking for more time.
The organisations argue that being given a fortnight to comment on the 70-page document “limits the public’s ability to participate and compromises the integrity of the process”.
“Therefore, in order to ensure that the process is within the spirit of the law and constitution, we respectfully request that the deadline be extended to August 31, 2013.”
Irish-Qhobosheane said she had received the letter and had asked for a meeting to talk about the extension.
Cape Argus