Cops face boot from dirty, rat infested Gauteng barracks of shame

Get out or pay up! This is the message police management in Gauteng has sent out to policemen and women residing at barracks in the province - many of whom live there with their families.

They have been issued with letters stating that unless they vacate their homes within a month of the date of issue, market-related rentals, to be determined by the Department of Public Works, will kick in for three months.

Failure to comply by then will result in disciplinary and/or legal action.

"Please note that being allocated official housing, which is limited, is on a temporary basis and you, the employee, have the ultimate responsibility to provide housing for yourself and your dependants," a copy of the letter issued by police last month reads.

This move is seen as a bid by the police to tackle the crisis around its official housing system, which has been in the spotlight for several years.

It is unclear if the eviction plan affects police in other provinces.

However, some barracks in other cities have been found to be in a shocking state.

Mpho Kwinika, president of the South African Police Union, said the union feared that most of its members affected by the eviction threat would not be able to afford alternative housing after so many years.

"This is a serious crisis," Kwinika said.

Many of the barracks are in a shocking condition and have been poorly maintained over the years.

Police management has battled to ensure that officers who have been assigned a temporary home move after a certain period. In some cases, it has been hard to keep out illegal occupants.

On Wednesday, rats were seen running around at the Alexandra police barracks in Johannesburg.

Communal toilets were broken and light fittings in the foyer dangled dangerously from the ceiling.

Water supply, the residents said, was intermittent - and most of the one-room units were powered by extension cords running from outside because there were not enough working plugs inside the four-storey building.

Nothing Has Changed

In 2012, the Sunday Times exposed the horrendous living conditions at the police barracks where our men and women in blue were housed.

At the time, and only days after General Riah Phiyega was appointed national police commissioner, she pledged to add the shocking conditions of the barracks to her list of priorities.

Now, nearly three years later, nothing appears to have changed for the cops who live there.

Barracks housing in Alexandra was meant to accommodate only single officers, but some policemen live there with their entire families.

The wife of a lieutenant, who has more than 30 years of experience in the police, said: "It is not nice staying here.

"It is dirty. There are rats all over and the toilets are not flushing. My kids play in these dirty passages."

She said there were only intermittent spells of running water. "We have to go outside and fetch water with a bucket to wash."

The wife of another policeman said her children had to move to their grandmother because it was too dirty at the Alexandra barracks.

"Obviously it affects their health. There are no showers, no baths; we have to fill a bucket to bathe. I do not have anywhere else to go. Where should we stay?"

She said her husband, a constable in the SAPS who earns just under R110000 a year, will not be able to afford alternative housing and to provide for their four children.

George Goch police barracks just off the M2 going from Johannesburg to Germiston was also intended to house single officers, but now serves as accommodation for policemen, women and their families.

There were also several illegal occupants not associated with the police.

As was the case at the Alexandra barracks, access control at George Goch was nonexistent.

"This place is a health hazard. I cannot take our children to the toilet. They have to sit on a bucket because the toilets are too bad. Your children get sick all the time," said the niece of a sergeant who has been staying at the barracks for the past eight years.

One police sergeant who asked not to be identified said he had no choice but to believe that the government did not care about policemen and women.

"They expect you to perform and come to work proud of your uniform, but we have to stay in these conditions.

"They expect you to have shiny boots at work, but you stay in a dirty place," he said.

The barracks at Norwood and Sophiatown were in no better shape.

On Wednesday, three young men were seen carrying a fridge up 13 flights of stairs because the lift at the Herdeshof building in Sophiatown has not been working since 2005.

There was a stench coming from the building as each floor was littered with rubbish.

A policeman who has stayed in this building for more than a decade said the foul smell and the rubbish were not his only problems.

"We have no security here, so people come and break into our cars even if they are parked in the garages.

"They have broken into the homes of some of the members and stolen their firearms when they were away."

'Backlogs' blamed as police vow to act

Former acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has been appointed head of facility management to "crack the whip" in resolving problems with the barracks.

A spokesman for Phiyega, Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale, said responsibility of the barracks rested with the SAPS and the Department of Public Works.

He said policemen in the single quarters did not receive the R900 monthly housing allowance, and thus paid 1% of their salaries as rent, which was capped at R200 a month. These members often did not pay for water and electricity, which led to the services being cut, he said.

Some also moved their spouses and children into single-person units, leading to "faster deterioration" of the facilities, thus requiring additional maintenance.

But he said some policemen in the barracks also failed to take it upon themselves to adhere to normal cleanliness standards. Others sublet their allocated units for financial gain.

Makgale conceded: "No regular inspections are done and members are left to do as they please."

He said public works had massive maintenance backlogs and it was not always possible to provide alternative housing as state-owned accommodation was not readily available. There was no leasing budget .

He said the letters issued were given specifically to members who lived in buildings in urgent need of repair. It was hoped the three-month notice period would be long enough to enable them to seek alternative accommodation.

bornmanj@sundaytimes.co.za