KANYAMAZANE – While police in the province fight tooth and nail to eradicate all forms of crime in the community, the residents in this sprawling township have endured over 12 months of having no access to the station’s landlines.
“The problem started around April last year. I remember there was an incident when nurses at the local clinic were attacked by criminals, we tried calling the station several times but we eventually had to drive to the police station to report the incident,” said an anonymous resident.
It is alleged that the community has been informed of an alternative cellphone number, which residents should use to report crime incidents in the area. However, it is difficult to get this number as there are no notices of it in the township.
Read: No phone lines at Kanyamazane Police Station
“They say there is a number we should call but as residents, we don’t know the number because it has not been displayed anywhere nor has it been given to us,” said another angry resident.
He added that when an enquiry was made months ago, they were told that the station management was working on the issue, but the telephones are still not working.
Journalists who called on the station’s landline also could not get through. When this journalist called the police on its 10111 number, the recipient confirmed that callers cannot be put through to KaNyamazane Police Station.
“I can’t put you through to KaNyamazane police, the alternative number to call is 082-923-0677,” said the person who answered the phone.
When asked why, it was confirmed that the landlines had not been working for over a year now. When asked what if a caller doesn’t have money to call the cellphone number, we were told that the radio could be used to report an incident, but if a caller needs to speak to someone directly, he or she will have to call the number mentioned above.
A reliable source, who cannot be named to protect her identity, revealed that the said cellphone was not effective as its battery tends to go flat because of the many calls from the public.
Const Ncobile Mnisi, spokesperson for the KaNyamazane police, confirmed that the telephone lines have been out of order for a while now and the problem has been reported to the relevant authorities.
Brig Leonard Hlathi, spokesperson for the provincial police, said police were aware of the matter and it was reported to the service provider, Telkom, which is currently addressing the issue.
Hlathi denied that the lines have not been working for over a year. He said the main cause for the defaults were lightning, electrical faults and other technical faults which were being addressed.
When verifying with Telkom, this journalist was told that the only faults reported by the police concerning the said landlines were made in April and their systems showed that those matters were cleared. Attempts to get hold of the Telkom’s group communication for more details were fruitless.
