Staff shortages at Norkem Park SAPS to get attention

The staff shortage at Norkem Park Police Station will hopefully be addressed by the South African Police Service soon.

In a letter written to Mike Waters, DA constituency head Kempvale, provincial police stated they were aware of the 10 vacancies in the detective department and would be “addressing it shortly”.

The current staffing level for detective services at the police station is 79.6 per cent, said Maj Gen A Wiese, deputy provincial commissioner: management advisory services in Gauteng.

He also said provincial management was aware of the low conviction rate of crimes reported at Norkem Park Police Station and would address it with district and station management.

According to Wiese, the police continually address staff shortages at police stations with the resources at its disposal.

“The filling of vacant posts are continuously facilitated through various human resources processes and are also dependent on the annual intake of new students.”

Waters addressed the low conviction rate at Norkem Park Police Station in January, asking for an urgent inspection of the station.

At the time, Waters said: “According to a recent parliamentary reply, the conviction rate for serious and violent crimes, including murder, rape, hijacking, drug-related crimes, house break-ins and car theft, have all declined to levels that are unacceptable and embarrassing.

“This followed questions I asked on how many cases of the above crimes were reported at the station, how many of these were referred to court and how many actually ended in a successful conviction during the past three years. It is evident that the conviction rate for all serious and violent crimes declined, even from a very low base.”