GOOD Statement by Jonathan Cupido,
GOOD City of Cape Town Councillor
13 April 2026
The presence of US Marines training Cape Town Metro Police cadets on Muizenberg Beach is not something that can be brushed off as a simple “fitness session”. It raises serious legal, governance and accountability concerns.
Municipal policing in South Africa is not a free-for-all. The Constitution is clear that municipal police services must operate within a national legislative framework, and the South African Police Service Act makes it equally clear that the National Commissioner determines the standards and training applicable to municipal police. The City does not have the authority to improvise training arrangements outside of that framework.
Yet, the City has confirmed that this forms part of “ongoing international cooperation,” with references not only to fitness training but also to broader areas such as cybercrime, kidnapping, narcotics, and investigative techniques.
That immediately raises red flags.
The City must now answer, clearly and publicly:
- Under what legal authority were US Marines involved in training a municipal police service?
- Was this authorised or approved by the National Commissioner of SAPS?
- Was this strictly limited to physical training, or did it extend into policing functions?
- What agreement governs this “international cooperation”, and what are its terms?
- What did this cost, and who approved it?
Cape Town already has accredited training structures for its law enforcement and Metro Police. If the City now requires foreign military involvement to train its officers, then something is fundamentally wrong with its own systems.
More importantly, this creates a dangerous blurring of lines between military structures and civilian policing, something our constitutional framework is deliberately designed to prevent.
Residents are not asking for beach drills and PR moments. They are asking for safer communities, visible policing, functioning investigations and real consequences for criminals.
This appears more like a distraction than a safety intervention.
If the City believes this was appropriate, then it should have no problem placing the full legal basis, approvals and agreements on record. If it cannot do so, then it must explain why it acted outside of the framework that governs policing in South Africa.
Cape Town cannot claim to uphold the rule of law while selectively stepping outside of it when it suits them.
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