“The environmental design of Khayelitsha makes it difficult to police‚” Major-General Johan Brand told the Western Cape community safety committee on Wednesday.
He was giving a progress report on implementation of the recommendations of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into police inefficiency and the breakdown of relations between police and the community.
Brand said that‚ two years after the commission reported‚ the township was not safer and policing at night was still hampered by poor lighting.
But if all the recommendations were implemented‚ combined with a “whole of society” approach where everyone played a role‚ the situation could change.
The main safety issues were lighting‚ infrastructure and toilets‚ and five of the CCTV cameras in the township of 400 000 people were not working. A report to the committee said police had implemented 15 of the commission’s 19 recommendations.
Deputy provincial commissioner Thembisile Patekile said a memorandum of understanding between the police‚ the City of Cape Town and the Western Cape government had yet to be signed because the three parties needed to have a common understanding of what was required of them.
According to the presentation‚ experienced detectives deployed to Khayelitsha’s three police stations — Harare‚ Lingelethu West and Khayelitsha — had reduced the case backlog by 551.
– TMG Digital/The Times
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