• The City of Cape Town declined the invitation to appear before the Portfolio Committee on Police.
• Now, the committee has resolved to summon the City to appear.
• The Constitution empowers the committee to summon any person or organisation to appear before it to give evidence.

The National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Police will summon the City of Cape Town to appear before it to answer questions about the forceful eviction of a naked man in July.

According to committee chairperson Tina Joemat-Pettersson, after numerous letters between the committee and the City, it was left with no option but to initiate a process to summons the City to account for issues of policing with regard to evictions.

"The initial invite was sent to the City of Cape Town on 13 August 2020, clearly setting out the scope of interest the committee had on the matter.

"The response received on 19 August made it clear that the City will not be 'taking up your invitation to appear before the committee," reads Joemat-Pettersson's statement.

She said the committee accepted that the City appeared before other parliamentary committees, but it did not relate specifically to issues of policing.

"The Portfolio Committee on Police is mandated to deal with issues of policing in the National Assembly, hence the invite to ensure that law enforcement within the City of Cape Town is held accountable for its actions," said Joemat-Pettersson.

"Furthermore, the committee is empowered by Section 56 of the Constitution to summon any person or organisation to appear before it to give evidence. It is on this basis that the committee views the City's refusal as a flagrant undermining of the Constitution."

She said the committee remained of the view that all facets of policing, at all levels of government, were not above scrutiny or above the Constitution.

"It is on this basis that the committee has requested Parliament's Legal Services unit to initiate the summons process to compel the City of Cape Town to appear before the committee."

On 3 and 17 July, a delegation from the City, led by Cape Town mayor Dan Plato, appeared before the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

This came after footage emerged of a naked Bulelani Qolani being tackled by law enforcement members in front of his shack in eThembeni on 1 July.