NATIONAL NEWS - A national parliamentary reply found SAPS Western Cape stations to be in arrears of their utility accounts to the value of R1,7 million.
This follows another SAPS disaster: the lack of buccal testing agents across our country which has resulted in a massive DNA backlog and halting of the criminal justice system.
In total, police stations across the country are in arrears to the value of R24.4 million. The department of Public Works and Infrastructure pays municipal services on behalf of client departments, such as SAPS, and we thus would have expected that the national department, under Minister Patricia De Lille, would raise this concern with the national SAPS authority guided by Minister Bheki Cele. These are cabinet colleagues after all.
We must establish the level of operational functionality of stations as this may impact negatively on already underperforming stations.
For this reason, I will write to the provincial Minister of Community Safety, Albert Fritz, regarding a report on the level of operational stability of finances and service delivery resources of each police station.
MPP Reagen Allen comments: “Recently, the Kuilsriver station’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit had to be closed following the lapse of sanitation services at the station due to non-payment of municipal services.
"Within any working environment it is critical to maintain consistency in the level supply of resources and the provision of maintenance services to remain operational. It is even more vital within the lead police agency in our country because it exists to service the public and promote a safe, law-abiding environment.
In addition to this, we will also enquire on the 1 200 SAPS vehicles that are currently not servicing communities in the province and the threat it poses to service delivery in the form of visible policing. The way in which resources are managed in the Western Cape from a national level is deeply concerning as the province remains one of the worst affected when it comes to crime.
As part of our oversight role at provincial parliament, we will undertake to establish the cause in the delay of payment or non-payment in every case here in the province, how this ought to be rectified, and to establish whether any other challenges with regards to resources exist in service delivery.”
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'
