WATCH: Kempton Park SAPS told by commissioner to pull up its socks

Kempton Park Police Station is 10th on a list of 40 police stations in Gauteng as far as crimes reported is concerned.

This was heard at a recent meeting at Kempton Park Civic Centre where the newly appointed police commissioner for Gauteng, Lt Gen Elias Mawela, met with Kempton Park SAPS management, community leaders and other stakeholders.

The provincial commissioner was accompanied by Lt Gen Lesetja Mothiba, the district commissioner for Ekurhuleni and Gen Vincent Leshabane, cluster commander of Ekurhuleni North.

The purpose of the meeting was to outline Mawela’s vision since his appointment.

“The minister of police said if we wanted to address the national crime stats, we must address Gauteng’s crime stats, because 50 per cent of the national crimes stats is generated in Gauteng,” said Mawela.

“In order to begin working on reducing crime, I had to identify which were the police stations where the most crimes in Gauteng were reported, and Kempton Park is one of them. We have identified 40 police stations in Gauteng and we call them the ‘heavyweights’.

“We shouldn’t beat-about-the-bush and try to be nice about it. We need to go to those stations and tell them to pull up their socks as they are making Gauteng look bad. They need to work with all the stakeholders and reduce crime.”

The local police station is also in position 21 out of 1 444 police stations nationally with the most crimes reported, which was not pleasing to Mawela.

“Kempton Park is number 10 and 21 on the provincial and national lists respectively, which is saddening because of its closeness to OR Tambo International Airport, an international point of arrival to the country, and this police station needs to be ambassadors of the country,” said Mawela.

“We want to see efficient policing and effective law enforcement agencies.”

Mawela said Kempton Park SAPS needed to work on reducing crime and removing itself from the lists with immediacy and ensure that the Kempton Park community is safe and everyone entering and exiting the airport feels safe.

Ward councillor Jaco Terblanche was among those who voiced their concerns at the meeting. He spoke about crime factors in different areas and corrupt police officers.

Terblanche was shocked to learn of the positions Kempton Park SAPS found itself in.

“It is sad to hear that we are actually one of the worst police stations in the country, but the commissioner gave me hope when he said we needed to bring discipline back to the station,” said Terblanche.

“We often complain about resources and I am one of the people, but I was impressed that the commissioner said we must utilise the resources at hand; resources include working with security companies who are also helping fight crime.

“Trust between the community and police needs to be regained and as much as we say the community must work with the police, the police also need to work with the community.”

Mawela told Express he would be visiting more police stations, including Tembisa.

“To the Kempton Park community, I say report crime at the police station and report it everywhere, including on social media, and share information about these criminals.”

“Hold your station commander and his police officers accountable and demand safety and security because it is your right.

“The community must also be activists and not just sit back and point fingers but participate in all initiatives of crime-fighting because crime affects everyone; we can deal with this only if we all participate.”