Hillcrest and Molweni police stations fall under scrutiny of oversight visitors

AFTER an outcry on social media regarding poor service at Hillcrest SAPS and claims of a closed Molweni station, two local DA PR councillors intervened and initiated an oversight visit.

West Durban DA PR councillors, Gillian Noyce and Nonsikelelo Msomi, invited shadow minister of police Dianne Kohler Bernard to oversee the two police stations.

The group visited the Hillcrest station, which is squeezed into a tiny 75-year-old building.

The station has had no fewer than seven station commanders in the recent past and is responsible for policing close to 1.5 million citizens.

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Despite its massive load, the station is understaffed by 20 operational members and is 20 vehicles short.

Kohler Barnard said, “The vehicles they have on the whole are unsuitable for the terrain, which, for example, left a colonel walking a kilometre to a murder scene last week. Other vehicles have more than 250 000km on the clock.”

Cllr Noyce expressed concern that residents had to experience poor service due to issues that could easily be resolved.

“The detectives are 20 (staff) short with an average caseload of 500 per month, with 40 of them having to work in an increasingly inexperienced unit,” said Kohler Barnard.

“Despite these enormous challenges, the obviously dedicated officers have managed to pull down serious crimes such as murder, assault GBH and rape over the past cycle. This should be applauded.”

“However, the most recent crime stats show a scourge of drugs in the area as drug-related crimes have soared from 341 to 385 cases, and in inevitable tandem, house burglaries have shot up to 765.”

The delegation moved to Molweni, where citizens are in desperate need of a police station. It is alleged that R3 million was spent to install a satellite station in the area.

“The problem is that it is closed,” said local PR councillor and constituency chairman, Marlaine Nair.

“We found the gate locked, and a group of youth rushed to us, hoping that we could assist them with document notarisation and affidavits. One young man had been waiting there since 5am.”

Despite the satellite station set up in the area, Nonsikelelo Msomi, the DA PR councillor for wards 7 and 9, said that Molweni residents had no choice but to travel to the Hillcrest station.

“On inspection, we found an entrance at the back and discovered a single officer in civilian clothes, who lived on the site. There were six newly built prefab homes and ablution blocks, which were very dirty, and harboured many, many empty bottles of beer,” explained Kohler Barnard.

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“With a budget of R100-billion this year, it is astounding that communities and police officers are left to work in such facilities.”

Kohler Barnard said that there are serious challenges with the SAPS across the country.

“Political appointments, under-resourcing, corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability has left the SAPS in a dismal state.

“We need to urgently intervene in our police service so that we have a professional organisation protecting our communities and preventing crime.”

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