The Department of Justice recently announced that Gauteng’s Crime Prevention Wardens would be granted powers similar to provincial traffic officers.

However, as Jean Redpath of the Dullah Omar Institute pointed out, this move has raised constitutional concerns - provinces lack policing powers according to the Constitution, which envisions two scenarios for assigning such powers: through national legislation or via the minister of police's allocation based on national policing policy.

This means that, in theory, the police force can be federated in one of these two ways, but must be done uniformally. Neither of these have been taken to give such powers to Gauteng, which has instead been given an ad-hoc designation of powers.

The Expanded Public Works Programme Manual also excludes provincial departments from focusing on policing. The minister is in the process of finalizing a National Policing Policy, but the absence of provincial policing power allocations raises questions about the legal basis for the Crime Prevention Wardens' designation as peace officers.

Unlike Metropolitan police services, which have strictly delineated powers under the Constitution, which allows for the Provincial government to establish municipally-governed police services, Lesufi’s new police project is outside any established parameters.

This comes after comments by Bheki Cele that the national department aims to strip Metropolitan police of their autonomy, demonstrating a clear partisan double standard on administrative autonomy.

But it would be foolish of the DA to challenge this project, however poorly it is implemented, and however sloppy its legal grounding may be.

Instead, this should be seen as an opportunity to gain powers for the DA-run Western Cape province.

This can be done by making the case that these provincial policing powers must be extended to all provinces, under the principle of the “single police service” - the principle of policy uniformity.

It cannot be doubted that a provincially run Cape police force would be vastly superior to the current SAPS branch, as that branch has close and official ties to the local gangs which go back to a deal struck by Jacob Zuma in 2011.

The new police force would be recruited by a provincial department known for being vastly less corrupt and vastly more competent, and would enable the DA to start routing out the vicious gang violence that has crippled the province for decades.

Attempts by local units to curb crime have seen obstruction, intimidation and even assassination attempts by groups involving SAPS, including famously Lt. Col. Charl Kinnear.

If the DA are serious about Federalism, now is their chance - Lesufi has handed you the police on a silver platter.

After all, the DA-led coalition stands a serious chance of taking Gauteng in the next election, and the IFP could likely take KZN from the ANC with the DA’s help too - this would make three provinces with an independent police force run by the opposition, capable of curtailing a good deal of ordinary crime.

And if it fails, and the courts simply take the powers away from Lesufi, well then at least Lesufi won’t be able to waste any more money or cause any more suffering.