, rejecting recent claims that the crime prevention unit operates unlawfully.){kind=link}
By Thapelo Molefe
The Gauteng Provincial Government has strongly defended the legitimacy of the Gauteng Traffic Wardens (GTWs), rejecting recent claims that the crime prevention unit operates unlawfully.
The provincial administration says the GTWs are a legitimate and lawful initiative, established in line with the Constitution and properly designated as peace officers under national law.
This follows comments made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, during testimony before the ad hoc parliamentary inquiry into police corruption.
Mkhwanazi questioned the legality of the wardens, saying that while he thought Premier Panyaza Lesufi’s intentions were “good”, the wardens were “illegal”. Mkhwanazi said he raised the issue at the police’s board of commissioners.
In a statement released on Thursday, the provincial government said it would not engage in “litigating sweeping statements” but “categorically dismisses the allegation that the Gauteng Traffic Wardens are an illegal entity”.
According to the Gauteng government spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga, the initiative’s legal foundation was solidified in December 2023 when Minister of Justice and Correctional Services at the time, Ronald Lamola, designated the Crime Prevention Wardens as peace officers in terms of Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Act of 1977.
He said this designation gives the wardens the same legal standing as provincial traffic officers.
“The Gauteng Traffic Wardens initiative was always grounded in the principles of the South African Constitution, which mandates cooperative governance and requires all spheres of government to cooperate with one another in mutual trust and good faith,” Mhlanga said.
The province said the wardens were established not to replace or undermine the South African Police Service (SAPS), but to complement its efforts in a province battling a growing population and a stretched police-to-citizen ratio, estimated at one officer for every 541 residents.
To address this shortfall, Mhlanga said Gauteng adopted a cooperative policing model similar to others already implemented elsewhere in the country.
“This model has allowed other spheres of government to develop policing protocols with the SAPS, enabling locally funded policing initiatives to operate legally under SAPS authority and supervision,” he said.
Mhlanga cited the Western Cape’s Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (LEAP), provincial traffic officers, and metropolitan police departments as precedents.
At the conceptual stage, the province said it anticipated potential legal challenges but identified a “clear pathway” through Section 334(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which empowers the Minister of Justice to grant peace officer status to designated officials.
This legal mechanism, Mhlanga argued, ensured that the GTWs were established within the framework of the law.
Under the programme, the wardens focus on townships, informal settlements, and hostels (TISH) which are areas identified as high-risk crime zones. Their role includes providing visible policing, improving response times, and implementing community-based crime prevention strategies in partnership with SAPS and other law enforcement bodies.
“The impressive work done by Gauteng Traffic Wardens as peace officers under the supervision of SAPS proves that it’s possible to adopt structured cooperation that supports the work of the police without replacing them,” Mhlanga said.
INSIDE METROS