The Gauteng portfolio committee on community safety says the delay in the opening of the provincial integrated command centre is compromising government’s plan to fight crime.
Bandile Masuku, chairperson of the committee, said the delays in establishing the integrated command centre made the idea look like “fairy tale”.
“Member [Sizakele Nkosi] Malobane calls it a fairy tale because it has become a fairy tale. Some of the excuses we get are quite feeble. They talk about leases ... We are disappointed that the integration and co-ordination is not happening properly, and it is maybe because this centre has not been established.
“The command of the crime prevention wardens is compromised [because of the absence of the command centre],” Masuku said.
He was speaking to TimesLIVE Premium after receiving reports from metro police departments from the three metros of Gauteng in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.
The command centre was one of the many items that Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi announced would be used to fight crime.
It is set to be the engine room where all municipal cameras, private security feeds and SA National Roads Agency’s feed would be brought together in one room. This would enable law enforcement to have an bird’s eye view of the province and spot criminal activities as they happen.
A building has been acquired. It is just a few administrative issues that need to be resolved before occupation.
— Vuyo Mhaga, Gauteng premier’s spokesperson
Provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Elias Mawela, who attended the portfolio committee meeting, also lamented the delay in opening the centre.
“I believe that once we have that integrated provincial joint operational centre, it will assist all of us. We are going to co-ordinate the deployment on a daily basis. When I am seated in that command centre, I will be able to understand where everybody is in this province,” Mawela said.
Lesufi introduced 6,000 crime wardens to help fight crime in the province. The men and women in green jumpsuits were going to work together with technology such as drones, choppers and panic buttons used by citizens.
During the committee meeting, metro police departments told the legislature that they had limited resources to fight crime in the province.
Tshwane MPD said it had serious problems with its fleet.
Staff officer Sean Bolhuis said TMPD has 61 leased vehicles and 697 owned by the city but only 447 are functioning.
Ekurhuleni MPD also said it had similar problems with no budget to buy new vehicles.
Masuku said the committee will take the issues raised by police departments to the department of cooperative governance and traditional affairs and provincial treasury.
The premier’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga, said: “A building has been acquired. It is just a few administrative issues that need to be resolved before occupation.”
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