SAPS
Police Minister Bheki Cele said the Western Cape doesn’t have to think that it's above the law.
He caused a stir in the Mother City this week when he shut down a film shoot on a Cape Town beach on Wednesday which he said had violated Covid19 regulations.
He was heavily criticised on social media, with Western Cape Safety MEC, Albert Fritz, calling on the Minister to stop using police resources during his visits.
"You don't need heavily armed police officers to oversee compliance with health and safety protocols by families on Western Cape beaches, especially when the SAPS and the City's law enforcement already have extensive festive season plans in place," he said.
Fritz added, "Where we do need Minister Cele's heavily armed police escorts is in our fight against organized and violent crime on the Cape Flats."
The matter is now before a court.
Meanwhile, speaking during another leg of his country-wide Safer Festive Season tour on Friday, Cele said the Western Cape, has no right to think it was above the law.
"I'm not wasting my time about the thinking of the Western Cape. Anyway, some of us were there long before them to create a situation of freedom, freedom of speech and all that," he said in response to media questions.
Cele said the people of the province also need to be protected and that police were patrolling beaches to create visibility and to enforce the law.
He said the Western Cape must be "a little bit part of South Africa" and understand that the resurgence of Covid19 was prevalent in that province too.
"While it was permitted by the City of Cape Town, upon closer inspection, the production was not compliant with what is permitted on beaches, as stipulated on the Covid-19 regulations," he was quoted earlier as saying.
The government is facing several court challenges following its decision to close beaches in the Eastern Cape and the Garden Route until 3 January, following a resurgence of infections in those areas which have also been declared Covid19 hotspots.
The Garden Route District Municipality, Kouga Municipality in the Eastern Cape, the DA and Afriforum will mount court challenges contesting the beach bans.
