Cape Town - The South African Policing Union (Sapu) in the province has called for police management to take the safety of its members seriously.
This is after the union said it had closed down the Browns Farm satellite police station in Philippi over the unsafe and dangerous working conditions that its members are working under.
The union said upon visiting the police station its members were still operating in the unsafe environment, despite it being disqualified by three different reports, including from Crime Intelligence, declaring the place as unsafe.
Sapu provincial secretary Simon Rakgokong said in an era where police officers were killed, their union could not afford to have a police station in an area like Philippi, with no lights, inadequate fencing and no running water, which also posed a health risk.
“At the same police station, 600 metres away a police officer was killed in his car while reporting for duty at 6pm. As Sapu, we could not allow this situation and took the matter to the chamber and fought until we agreed with the employer after engagements that the place must be closed and our members be moved to a conducive, safe environment where they can execute their duties safely,” Rakgokong said.
Although Rakgokong could not confirm whether there were similar police stations in the province, he said the union had engaged its shop stewards to ensure that all police stations in the province met safety standards.
Nyanga Policing Forum chairperson Dumisani Qwebe said the community was informed of the police station closure and that they agreed to it. Qwebe said initially a building was identified to be utilised as a satellite station, but talks fell through.
“During a recent meeting with the stakeholders in January, the issue was again raised as another municipal building was identified. We are now awaiting the provincial police management and the municipality to fasttrack this process as we are satisfied with the identified facility,” he said.
Regarding the new satellite police station, police spokesperson Andre Traut confirmed that premises in Browns Farm had been identified and that occupation was being considered. Traut said this process was still under way. He, however, could not provide a time line.
Traut said an adequate contingent of police officers was deployed in the area daily until the matter had been finalised.
Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said the state of the police station and others in the province should not be a surprise. Allen said resourcing and the establishment of or improvement of infrastructure were not a priority for the national government.
He said the only way this would improve was to devolve police powers to a capable provincial government.