Police station forced to close gates during load-shedding

Despite the North Gauteng High Court’s recent ruling that public hospitals, clinics, schools and police stations be exempt from load-shedding, local police stations are still being left in the dark.

The Benoni City Times recently visited the Etwatwa SAPS during load-shedding and found the gate closed and that there was no backup power.

While it appeared that the station was not operating at all, it was open to the public.

One of the officers explained that they had closed the gate for “safety reasons”, adding that this is the norm during load-shedding.

The court ruling, seen by the City Times, states that “pending the final determination of part B of the application, the Minister of Public Enterprises shall take all reasonable steps within 60 days from the date of this order to ensure that there shall be sufficient supply or generation of electricity to prevent any interruption of supply as a result of load-shedding”.

The order comes after 19 applicants, including the United Democratic Movement, Inkatha Freedom Party, Action SA, Lukhona Mnguni, National Union of Metal Workers of SA and other organisations, approached the court to declare load-shedding unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, the closure of gates at local police stations is no surprise following a video that circulated on social media in October of a man (believed to be a patroller) reporting to Reiger Park SAPS in Boksburg.

In the video, he alleged that officers were sleeping inside the police station and that they had locked the gates because they were scared.

“We, as patrollers, want to sign off and show them our complaints, but we can’t do anything of the sort.
“We found one [police officer] sleeping outside. The others are sleeping inside. What must we do now?” the patroller asked.

The City Times has also learnt that Putfontein SAPS doesn’t have a generator and they use torches to carry out their duties at night when there’s load-shedding.

Crystal Park SAPS has a generator, which, they said, occasionally runs out of diesel.

Load-shedding at clinics
A concerned Wattville resident voiced her frustration on the Wattville Youth Talks Facebook page on May 22, writing that nurses at Lethabong Clinic said they will start working after load-shedding. The resident questioned what had become of the clinic’s generator.

SAPS responds
According to Gauteng SAPS spokesperson Colonel Dimakatso Newhuhulwi, Etwatwa and Benoni police stations have generators.

“The generator at Etwatwa is broken and the matter has been escalated to the relevant department. However, measures have been put in place to ensure service delivery is not hampered,” said Newhuhulwi.

She added that it is the responsibility of local police stations to procure diesel.

Should any member of the public prefer not to visit a police station during load-shedding, they can contact the Community Service Centre on 071 675 6764 or 071 675 7322 for assistance.

Metro responds
City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini refuted claims that Lethabong Clinic was closed due to load-shedding but confirmed that the generator is not functional.

“The order for repair has been submitted to the relevant department. The challenge during load-shedding occurs when examination lights must be used.

“A few weeks ago, a client was assisted when the power returned. Clients are informed about the importance of good lighting when certain procedures must be performed,” Dlamini said.

He added that services do not halt at any municipal clinics during load-shedding but procedures that require adequate lighting are postponed until the electricity returns.

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