Law enforcement in South Africa is primarily the responsibility of the South African Police Service

South African Police Service

The South African Police Service is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1116 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in each province...

 (SAPS), South Africa's national police force, which is responsible for investigating crime and maintaining safety and security throughout the country. The South African Police Service is established in accordance with the provisions of Section 205 of the Constitution of South Africa

Constitution of South Africa

The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the country of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the government. The current constitution, the country's fifth, was...

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Some municipalities

Municipalities of South Africa

Municipalities in South Africa are a division of local government that lie one level down from provincial government, forming the lowest level of democratically elected government structures in the country. The foundation for this layer of government is set out in Chapter 7 of the Constitution of...

 also maintain their own Municipal Police

Municipal Police (South Africa)

In South Africa, the Municipal Police are the separate police forces maintained by some municipalities. Municipal police forces are responsible for traffic policing and enforcing local bylaws within the municipality, and work in co-operation with the South African Police Service to prevent crime...

 units, which are tasked mainly with traffic policing

Traffic policing

Traffic policing is the process of monitoring network traffic for compliance with a traffic contract and taking steps to enforce that contract. Traffic sources which are aware of a traffic contract may apply traffic shaping to ensure their output stays within the contract and is thus not discarded...

 and the enforcement of municipal bylaws. Municipal Police have fewer powers than the South African Police Service, and do not investigate major crimes. Municipal Police forces exist in a number of major cities, including Cape Town

Cape Town

Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...

, Johannesburg

Johannesburg

Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and Durban

Durban

Durban is the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal and the third largest city in South Africa. It forms part of the eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Durban is famous for being the busiest port in South Africa. It is also seen as one of the major centres of tourism...

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