---
title: "Community policing must stay above party politics to protect democratic integrity"
description: "As South Africa heads into local government elections it is important that Community Policing Forums (CPFs) remain strictly non-partisan. There is a fear that political candidates will use CPF platforms for campaigning, and to prevent this provincial authorities need to reinforce recusal rules, social media guidelines and impartial reporting mechanisms to maintain public trust in community safety."
type: "OpinionNewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Opinionistas"
author: "Rashied Omar"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/rashied-omar/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2026-10-11-community-policing-must-stay-above-party-politics-to-protect-democratic-integrity/"
published: "2026-10-11T08:40:31"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 1314
---

# Community policing must stay above party politics to protect democratic integrity

> As South Africa heads into local government elections it is important that Community Policing Forums (CPFs) remain strictly non-partisan. There is a fear that political candidates will use CPF platforms for campaigning, and to prevent this provincial authorities need to reinforce recusal rules, social media guidelines and impartial reporting mechanisms to maintain public trust in community safety.

By Rashied Omar · Published 11 October 2026, 10:40 SAST

## Content

In a few weeks – on Wednesday, 4 November 2026 – South Africans will once again go to the polls, this time to elect the local councils that shape our daily lives.

As we do, we have much for which to be grateful. In the more than three decades since the birth of our democracy in 1994, our national, provincial and local elections have, by and large, been free, fair and peaceful. At a time when even long-established democracies, including the United States, have seen polarisation and inflammatory rhetoric place their institutions under severe strain, this is no small achievement. It is a precious inheritance, and we should never take it for granted.

This is especially true now, for we approach these elections at a dangerous moment. Across the Western Cape, many communities are living with high levels of crime, gang violence, extortion rackets and organised criminal activity. When elections coincide with such volatility, we must be all the more vigilant in protecting the integrity of the institutions entrusted with community safety.

### Those who keep our elections safe

We owe a debt of gratitude to the many people working to ensure that every South African can vote freely and safely. The Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) has earned the trust of voters across the political spectrum through its independence and professionalism.

The men and women of the South African Police Service (SAPS) carry the enormous responsibility of securing voting stations and protecting election officials, often in the very communities hardest hit by crime. Election officials, party agents and observers quietly do the work on which public confidence rests. We thank them all.

But safeguarding peaceful elections cannot be left to the IEC and SAPS alone. Civil society, faith communities, civic organisations, neighbourhood watches, political parties, candidates and ordinary citizens all share responsibility for lowering tensions, rejecting intimidation and protecting our democratic institutions. Among these, Community Police Forums (CPF) carry a special responsibility.

### A bridge built on trust

CPFs are a vital bridge between communities and the police, and their effectiveness depends on public trust. That trust rests on their independence from party politics. A CPF must belong to the whole community – to residents who support the governing party in their ward, and to those who support the opposition. Leadership in a CPF is held in trust for all of them: a forum that is visibly impartial is one that every resident can call their own.

That is why the Western Cape Uniform Constitution for Community Police Forums and Boards requires CPFs to remain non-party political. Political parties and councillors may take part in CPFs, but clause 22.1.3 of its Code of Conduct states unequivocally that members “shall refrain from promoting party politics” when dealing with CPF matters. Section 199(7) of our national Constitution likewise bars the security services and their members, in the performance of their functions, from furthering in a partisan manner the interests of any political party.

CPFs are not security services, they exist to bridge communities and the police. If the police themselves must remain impartial, the structures that work alongside them should observe the same spirit.

Non-partisanship does not ask CPF members to give up their democratic rights. They remain free to hold political views, belong to political parties and stand for public office, and activists who have served their neighbourhoods well may make fine councillors. What the same clause 22.1.3 requires is a clear separation between the two roles once a member becomes a candidate.

A member standing for office must recuse themselves from CPF duties in writing 30 days before starting their campaign, and in any event once their nomination is accepted. If elected, they must resign from the CPF immediately; if unsuccessful, they may apply to resume their duties after the results are announced, and that request is reviewed before it is granted. Failure to follow these steps may be treated as misconduct. These are not unreasonable restrictions. They protect the member, the community the CPF serves and the integrity of the institution.

### Guarding against covert campaigning

There is a second, subtler concern. Political neutrality is also compromised when a local CPF is used to support an incumbent councillor’s campaign, whether openly or discreetly. This may involve explicit endorsements. More often it is quieter: circulating a councillor’s campaign-related messages through CPF platforms, amplifying one candidate’s achievements while overlooking others, or blurring the line between legitimate communication about municipal matters and electioneering. That line matters most during an election period. A CPF WhatsApp group or community safety platform should never become an unofficial campaign channel for any candidate.

Individual CPF members remain citizens and are entitled to their personal political views. But senior office-bearers carry an additional public responsibility, because residents cannot easily separate the person from the office.

When a senior CPF leader publicly praises a councillor on that councillor’s social media platforms, particularly once an election campaign is under way, residents may reasonably conclude that the CPF itself has taken sides. Praise offered there does not remain a personal opinion. It appears alongside the campaign’s own messages and carries the standing of the CPF with it.

The same is true when policing successes are presented as a councillor’s achievement in the run-up to an election. Arrests, operations and drops in crime are the work of SAPS officers, neighbourhood watches and residents who come forward with information.

When CPF leaders carry or applaud a candidate’s claim to those results, the CPF lends its credibility to a campaign message, and the people who did the work are quietly written out of the story. Even where no partisan intention exists, that perception erodes trust, and trust is the currency of community policing.

Ward councillors are, of course, legitimate partners of CPFs, whichever party they belong to, and cooperation with the City on community safety is part of a CPF’s work. Good deeds deserve recognition, and that recognition should go to those who did the work.

Good intentions matter too. But in an election period, intention is not the test. The test is how a fair-minded resident will read the conduct. Nor is it enough for CPF structures to assure us that they can tell the difference. Clear rules, applied equally, protect CPFs far better than self-assurance.

### A call for clarity

We therefore respectfully call on the Western Cape Provincial Community Police Board and the Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety to take four practical steps before 4 November.

1. Issue a written reminder to all CPFs and sub-forums setting out the recusal rules and the conduct expected of office-bearers during the election period.
2. Offer guidance on social media use during the election period, so that office-bearers known by their CPF title can avoid their personal posts being read as the CPF’s position.
3. Encourage CPFs to keep their official platforms, including WhatsApp groups and social media pages, free of campaign material during the election period, and to credit policing successes to those who achieved them rather than to any candidate.
4. Make available a simple way for residents to raise concerns, with the assurance that each will be considered fairly and on the evidence. This is not directed at any party or candidate. The same standard must apply to incumbents, challengers, independents and every political party.

In these critical weeks, we pray for our country: for wisdom among our political leaders, integrity among those entrusted with public institutions, restraint among political supporters, protection for election officials and police officers, and courage among citizens to exercise their democratic rights peacefully.

Our peaceful elections are a gift that each generation must protect anew. As 4 November approaches, let us recommit ourselves to three simple principles. Political parties must be free to campaign. Citizens must be free to choose. And institutions entrusted with public safety must remain impartial and serve everyone.

Our democracy deserves nothing less. **DM**

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