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FILE | Gauteng Traffic Wardens pass out parade
The Gauteng Provincial Government has rebuffed claims that the decision by the province’s Premier to discontinue the Crime Prevention Wardens was informed by the Public Protector’s investigation into their inception.
During a media briefing, Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced that the wardens will undergo phased training to be designated the same legal standing as traffic police.
Hours after his announcement, the Public Protector released a report which found that the establishment, appointment and deployment of the wardens was irregular and unlawful.
Gauteng Government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says, “Following those discussions around their status, we reviewed the situation, and the Premier announced yesterday morning that we are going to migrate them to the Gauteng Traffic Police because that’s a police service that is under the control of the province. And then later in the evening we then received the report from the Public Protector, which in part confirmed the decision that we needed to take them for training. So we are fully aligned with the PP.”
Meanwhile, the DA in Gauteng says it will table a motion of no confidence against Lesufi for the alleged illegal establishment of the Crime Prevention Wardens.
The DA says it will engage other political parties in the Provincial Legislature to support their motion.
Gauteng DA leader Solly Msimanga addressed the media in Johannesburg earlier Thursday.
“Panyaza was doing his part for the elections. People thought that, you know, we were just blowing smoke. This programme never even had a budget when he made the announcement. He took money that was supposed to have gone towards NGOs, meaning social development, and money that was supposed to have gone towards the Department of Health and then made sure that this thing was actually put together. When the people were taken to Kaliningrad for training, we found out that the training was not even accredited.”
