The issue of the lack of boots on the ground and police vehicles have been raised by Community Safety and Police Oversight Minister, Reagen Allen. file image
Reagen Allen, MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, has expressed concern about the shortage of police officers in the province, with 116 out of 151 stations having multiple vacancies, saying that the province is given the “middle finger”.
Cape Town - Reagen Allen MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, has expressed concern about the shortage of police, with 116 out of 151 stations having multiple vacancies, saying the province is given the “middle finger”.
No date has been planned to fill the positions despite the new recruitment of officers’ programme.
SAPS has a shortage of 90 000 officers and many are operating with fewer than 10 vehicles.
In the latest crime statistics released in February this year, police registered 7 710 murder cases between October and December last year.
Police Minister Bheki Cele said 268 gang-related murder cases were linked to the Western Cape. In a crime report sent to the Weekend Argus this week for 24 hours, 75 incidents were reported with 10 arrests, of which 14 were for murders and 14 attempted murders.
Allen told Weekend Argus the lack of resources, such as boots on the ground, police vehicles and equipment, had also placed police at risk.
This week, two officers were shot in the Western Cape, one injured and the other killed. Sergeant Adion Willam Mahoney was killed while on duty last week in Atlantis.
A 30-year-old man also handed himself over to police and is believed to be behind the attempted murder of an officer in Kensington this past week. “The continued lack of human and other resources is the clearest demonstration that the national government is showing everyone in the Western Cape the middle finger.
“It is disgraceful that 116 out 151 SAPS stations have multiple vacancies, while some have a police-to-population ratio of on officer to between 800 and 1000 residents.
“In Belhar and Cloetesville, there are well over 1 000 residents. This under-resourcing isn’t only setting the dedicated men and women in blue up for failure, but is a direct disregard for the safety of people in this province.
“A continued lack of planning and forward-thinking remain and this is why we are at the point where devolution or a new policing model, where the police are managed closer to the people should not be discussed, but urgently implemented. ”
Bernard Pieters: head of Community Activation at Cape Forum said the ratio of police to residents had to be addressed nationally, not just provincially: “The unemployment rate is at about 32%, yet if minister Cele fell within this 32%, SAPS might be performing better.
“This is due to a shortage of 90 000 officers, reported in 2023. “During 2023/24 (period), 11 268 trainees were recruited, and no mention (about) personnel leaving the force.
“The ratio of SAPS to citizens is complex due to European comparative standards not being compatible with that of South Africa.
“Lack of vehicles is also a major concern due to limited SAPS reach and reaction time.”
According to an internal report, Strandfontein police station, for example, has 41 police officers with 11 vehicles and a vacancy of 28.1% with four detectives while Table View has 150 officers, with 40 vehicles and a vacancy of 14.8% and 34 detectives.
Both communities raised the alarm in the media this week, calling for more resources such as vehicles and officers after seeing a spike in crimes such as murder, attempted murder and home invasions.
At Strandfontein Police Station it was revealed that often the station had to operate with as little as three police officers on the grounds patrolling
Ward Councillor for Strandfontein, Elton Jansen and the police station together with saps management and the Community Policing Forum in the area had addressed the community at the weekend due to the increase in crime and called for a drug house to be demolished while residents asked for LEAP officers to be deployed: “The recent shootings and killings in the area drove fear in the community.
“I informed the residents about the notorious drug house in Punt Street, Philippi.
“For years the previous owner (Uvest) tried to evict the occupants to demolish the house. However, they were unsuccessful.
“It has come to light that the farm on which the house is built was bought by the National Department of Agriculture. I logged this house as a problem house with our Problem Building Unit to investigate.
“I have also written to the Minister of Agriculture and The Minister of Police to jointly deal with the criminality in this house.
“Our request is to seek an eviction order to evict the occupants of the house and then demolish the house Until the department has a plan for the property.”
Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba said the shortages are not unique to the Western Cape.
“The SAPS has since embarked on an aggressive recruitment drive #Project10 thousand to - for the first time - train an unprecedented amount of police officers,” she responded.
“The last batch started at police colleges at the start of this week.
“Ten thousand officers will graduate in three years, bringing in a total of 30 thousand officers into the system.
“All provinces share the 10 thousand officers who graduate in December each year and are deployed according to crime patterns.”
Last week, the recruitment process for the first batch of 10 000 recruits for the 2024/2025 financial year was finalised. The initial group of 4500 trainees will begin training at various SAPS academies on April 22, 2024. However, there were no comments made regarding the filling of vacancies or the allocation of vehicle resources.