US Marines' fitness drills on Muizenberg Beach spark controversy

Mayoral committee member for safety and security, JP Smith has defended the Metro Police's engagement with US Marines as an informal arrangement "where staff could measure their fitness standards against that of another entity".

Smith had shared a video of the training exercise on social media, sparking backlash including from the Good Party which said the incident raised serious legal governance and accountability concerns. 

“The engagement between the City’s Public Safety Training College (PTSC) and Marines based at the US Consulate in Cape Town was a fitness exercise and an opportunity for officers to experience Marine-style fitness drills. The City has, in recent years, as part of its expansion of the PSTC, started placing a stronger emphasis on the physical fitness of enforcement services, with ongoing assessments of all levels of staff,” Smith said. 

Smith also stated that the informal training session incurred no costs.

“The engagement with the Marines was an informal arrangement where staff could measure their fitness standards against that of another entity. It was not a formal training engagement, and there was no cost involved to the City as the Marines are based in Cape Town, at their Consulate,” Smith said. 

He further stated that the City has engaged with cities and governments across the world to learn about or identify ways in which it's able to improve its abilities. 

Smith added that in April 2024, a training course on cyber forensics for first responders was presented by experts in the field from France and Australia. 

GOOD party Councillor Jonathan Cupido said the incident cannot be brushed off as a simple fitness session. 

“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,” Cupido said. 

He said the City’s confirmation of ‘ongoing international operation’ with references to not only fitness training but broader areas immediately raises red flags. 

He questioned under what legal authority US Marines were involved in training a municipal police service, whether this was authorised or approved by the National Commissioner of SAPS and  whether it was strictly limited to physical training.

“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.

“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,” Cupido said.

Cape Times