A total of 1169 police vehicles are out of service in Gauteng, which puts the safety of the residents at risk, leaving South African Police Service (SAPS) officers with fewer vehicles for visibility patrol, detective services and support services.

This was revealed by the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, in a written reply to the DA’s questions in the National Assembly.

According to Cele, there are 569 out-of-service vehicles in visible policing, 491 out-of-service vehicles in detective services and 109 out-of-service vehicles in support services. In total, there are 1169 out-of-service vehicles in Gauteng.

DA shadow MEC for community safety Michael Shackleton said: “It is unacceptable as it has resulted in police not being able to attend emergency crime scenes and has negatively impacted the work of the police officers.”

Cele revealed that Vereeniging has 14 out-of-service vehicles for visible policing with only 20 operational vehicles; Lenasia has 10 out-of-service vehicles and only nine operational vehicles; De Deur has 10 out-of-service vehicles, and 11 operational vehicles and Krugersdorp has 12 out-of-service vehicles and only 22 operational vehicles.

In terms of detective services vehicles, Mondeor has nine out-of-service vehicles and 12 operational vehicles; Ekangala has seven out-of-service vehicles and seven operational vehicles, and Bramley has five out-of-service vehicles and five operational vehicles. In terms of support services, Laudium, Dube, Doornkop, Eersterust and Vaal Marina all have one out-of-service vehicle and one operational vehicle.

Shackleton said was unacceptable as a police station unit cannot operate with only one vehicle; in the case of mechanical challenges there will then be no vehicle to use.

“In addition, there is no specific timeframe as to when the out-of-service vehicles will be repaired and returned to their respective police stations.

“We demand that the current national government must provide adequate resources to the SAPS as our residents deserve a police service that is well resourced to keep them and their belongings safe. We will also be conducting oversight inspections to several police stations across the province to assess whether they have adequate resources needed to fight and prevent crime.”