Cape Town – DA Ward councillor Angus McKenzie has come under fire from the ANC for “behaving like a warlord” while patrolling Bonteheuwel with law enforcement officers.
Dressed in a City Law Enforcement jacket, McKenzie accompanied officers during an operation in the area on Wednesday. He was pictured with officers while they conducted searches, which the ANC said was unlawful.

“In these pictures, councillor McKenzie is clearly demonstrating interference in the work of City employees. What we’re seeing is abusive power and contravention of the Code of Conduct, which is clear on what is expected of councillors,” read an ANC statement.

JP Smith, Mayco member for Safety and Security, said: “It is a pity that issues of public safety and policing have become so politicised that a councillor who is active in his ward is attacked in this manner when he joins police on a ride-along.Ward councillor Angus McKenzie on a ride-along with City law enforcement officers in Bonteheuwel. Picture: Supplied
In response to the ANC’s accusation, McKenzie said: “ANC city leader Xolani Sotashe and his misfit army of keyboard activists will be better suited to engage with their caucus on how to fix the SAPS rather than trying to visibly show how much they want places like Bonteheuwel to fail.”

The ANC should concern itself with the party’s sanctioned release of as many as 19 000 prisoners from provincial and national correctional facilities, he added, or “why an arrested individual for an illegal firearm was released 12 hours later with no charge”.

“These are things councillor Sotashe should be worried about, instead of about individuals getting on the ground supporting their communities,” McKenzie said.

City Council speaker Dirk Smit added: “My office has received this complaint (from the ANC) and it is being formally investigated in terms of the code of conduct for councillors.”

Smit said it would not yet be issuing any further comment on the matter.