The department of public works has come in for some flak from the DA over the conditions of police stations and their facilities around the country.
Doing an oversight visit to Berea Police Station in Durban on Monday‚ DA shadow minister of police Zakhele Mbhele said several issues confronting the small station related to a lack of political will to address important issues facing the cop shop.
Mbhele said they found out that due to the small size of the station compared to the area and the population they now serve‚ crime has spiked in the area which includes Musgrave‚ Morningside and Berea.
Mbhele‚ accompanied by DA eThekwini councillors‚ met with station commander Col Nkosinathi Radebe who has been at the helm of the station for a year.
The 135-member station had 12 vacancies and was short of vehicles.
Mbhele said in 2016 alone‚ in Berea there were 6‚484 crimes reported in total‚ which included 57 drug-related crimes‚ 12 sexual offences and‚ shockingly‚ a sexual offence as a result of police action.
He said according to a study by a security firm in the area‚ crime has also increased by 18 percent across the city of Durban.
“We found that in Berea most of the crime rate‚ as is the case around the country‚ is made worse by what we call four Us; which are the under-resourcing‚ under-staffing‚ under-training and under-equipping of the SAPS‚” he said.
Driving this phenomenon was the department of public works whose backlogs and inefficiencies contributed hugely to the non-functioning of police station in the country.
“For example‚ the major issue around this building [Berea police station] is that it is old and small and it’s one of those issues that can only be addressed by public works. We have spoken about this with the station commander‚ Col Radebe‚ who did indicate that he had made some request which have been escalated to the provincial level‚” said Mbhele.
“Public works is a long standing bottleneck. It is a real obstacle and a constraint for the ability of police service to have a conducive working environment‚” he said.
He said during their oversight visits to border posts in Mpumalanga they encountered issues relating to lack of shelter‚ accommodation and office space for the police officers stationed there.
He said expired lease agreements‚ maintenance leases and purchase of facilities were usually to blame for this.
He cited the situation of the Hawks‚ an elite‚ organised crime-fighting unit that worked under conditions that were not conducive to a proper working environment.
“It’s all public works. I will take up the issue of facilities and infrastructure with minister of police Fikile Mbalula. This need a political will. I will ask him to speak directly to Minister [Nathi] Nhleko of public works who‚ ironically‚ as a former police minister will understand these issues.”
He said the issue of staffing and resources will be taken up with acting police commissioner Lt-Gen Lesetja Mothiba and generals in the supply chain management of the SAPS.
He said a turnaround strategy for public works was needed for a back to basics and getting fundamentals right where cronyism does not trump competency.
Berea community policing forum chairperson Paul Antao said the station was small and needed to be upgraded to a director level‚ as it was a colonel level station.
He said the station has not been able to keep up with expansion around it that included Durban University of Technology‚ malls and many other entertainment areas.
It did not have enough members and vehicles.
He was however happy with Radebe saying they had a good working relationship with him and he understood the issues on the ground.
