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Gauteng’s Crime Prevention Wardens shake hands with Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
The civil society group, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), has criticised the repurposing of the Crime Prevention Wardens, also known as AmaPanyaza.
On Wednesday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced the disbandment of AmaPanyaza in a phased approach.
He said the wardens will undergo extensive training for 18 to 36 months, so they can qualify to be a part of the Gauteng traffic police and other security partners.
The unit, which was launched in 2023, has faced ongoing controversy over its legitimacy and role in law enforcement.
OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage says, “I think the reason for this is that it appears it was illegally constituted or put in place. This has been said by Mkhwanazi [KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi] and also the Public Protector [Kholeka Gcaleka] and it was going to be challenged.”
“So I think Panyaza is moving ahead of the formal challenge to try and redirect this programme into a traffic officer programme. And that you’ve got to start questioning. What are you actually doing here? So we’ll have to see whether there’s any benefit in that. We don’t think this is a good idea at all,” adds Duvenage.
VIDEO | GP CPW establishment “irregular”: Adv Kholeka Gcaleka
