Parliament, Tuesday, 01 August 2017 – The Portfolio Committee on Police says it will bring to the attention of the national leadership of the South African Police Service (SAPS) the inadequate resourcing it discovered while on an oversight visit to rural police stations in KwaZulu-Natal.
“The national leadership of SAPS has to do something about the skewed resource allocation to rural police stations. Otherwise we will not be able to effectively combat and prevent crime affecting the lives of our people living in rural areas,” said Committee Chairperson Mr Francois Beukman.
The Committee expressed this concern after it discovered that rural police stations such as Richards Bay, Hlabisa and Nongoma have not been given the required crime intelligence support by their respective clusters.
The Committee was also concerned that vehicle allocation to stations such as Hlubisa and Nongoma did not take into account the rural terrain in which police in these areas operate. The stations visited by the Committee also complained about the few vehicles they have, to a point where the respective units have to share them. This hampers response time to crime scenes. Further compounding the challenge is that the vehicles are serviced at police garages more than 100 kilometres away.
There is also an urgent need to address staff shortages, in particular detective services and visible policing. Some of the police stations complained that when officers are transferred, it takes time to replace them. In Hlubisa, the Committee heard that a single person is responsible for rural safety, school safety and community policing. The Committee also heard that there is no dedicate officer for court duties, which further reduces capacity when members from other units must fulfil court duties.
The Committee was also concerned by inadequate resources to support victims of domestic violence. The stations the Committee visited have crimes ranging from business robbery, taxi violence and wildlife poaching and gangsters.
The Committee was also gravely concerned by poor information management at the Richards Bay and Nongoma police stations. Some of the documentary information the Committee requested for scrutiny was either inconsistent with the verbal briefings or was not available.
Tomorrow (Wednesday, 02 August) the Committee will be in Pietermaritzburg at the offices of the Public Order Policing on Oribi Road to assess the effectiveness of the province’s specialised units. The programme will start at 09h00
ISSUED BY PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON POLICE, MR FRANCOIS BEUKMAN
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Temba Gubula
Parliamentary Communication Services
Tel: 021 403 8307
Cell: 078 735 8809 / 081 402 3531
Email: tgubula@parliament.gov.za
Arrange a tour