Cape Town Metro Police cadets trained by United States Marines

The training of Cape Town Metro Police Department cadets by the United States Marines has raised eyebrows among politicians.

Earlier this year, there was a joint fitness drill between the City of Cape Town’s metro police cadets and members of the United States Marines at Muizenberg Beach.

City of Cape Town Member of the Mayoral Committee for safety and security, JP Smith, explained that the activity was a standardised fitness routine.

He added that it was free with no financial exchange and that it was nothing more than an informal peer-to-peer fitness comparison.

However, opposition parties questioned the legality of the exercise, adding that it raises questions about the sovereignty of South Africa’s security forces.

City of Cape Town Councillor Jonathan Cupido said that it fell outside the authority of the National Framework, which is determined by the South African Police Services Act.

Member of the National Assembly, Jeffrey Mtolo, asked Acting Minister of Police Firoz Cachalia about the legality of the exercise.

Cachalia confirmed that it was not accredited as part of the South African Police Service Basic Police Development Learning Programme.

He added that the engagement was described as an informal fitness exercise, not as training that formed part of any accredited South African Police Service programme.

“As such, the Basic Police Development Learning Programme, its curriculum requirements and associated training prescripts were not applicable,” he said.

“No provision of the South African Police Service Act has been found to have been undermined or contravened by the fitness exercise,” he said.

Accordingly, no disciplinary action has been taken against any member of the South African Police Service.

“No member of the SA Police Service was involved in the incident, and there is accordingly no legal basis upon which disciplinary action could be instituted,” he said.