Read more
Some stations have implemented temporary solutions but are still forced to transport suspects to other police stations' cells.
Picture: Saps
Detaining suspects after they have been arrested is a tougher task at some police stations in Gauteng.
A report compiled for the province’s legislature shows that officers in 16.5% of precincts have no permanent place to hold suspects once they are returned to the station.
The result is that vehicles are diverted away from primary policing roles to transport suspects to other stations, and police manpower is delayed due to additional processing.
Essential resources lacking
The report was signed off by Premier Panyaza Lesufi following a written request submitted by the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Of Gauteng’s 145 police stations, 24 were still operating without permanent holding cells.
The DA urged the premier to engage with senior police officials and government departments to improve police stations’ capacity to serve their communities.
“It is concerning that a police station would lack a holding cell, forcing officers to travel long distances to detain suspects at other stations already experiencing overcrowding,” stated DA Shadow MEC for Community Safety Crezane Bosch.
“Millions have been wasted on high-tech solutions, including CCTV cameras and drones, while essential resources, such as police vehicles and holding cells, are lacking,” Bosch added.
Crime stats
The DA believed there was a correlation between a lack of holding cells and the ability to reduce crime in an area.
Of the 24 Gauteng stations without holding cells, several feature among the top 30 stations nationally for various crimes.
In the recently released national quarterly crime stats, Akasia ranked 15th for the station with the highest number of reported robberies with aggravated circumstances, fourth for carjackings and sixth for combined trio crimes, which are carjacking and robbery at residential and non-residential premises.
Olievenhoutbosch, Sandringham, Pretoria West, and Bedfordview were all among the top 30 nationally for reported carjackings, with Bedfordview ranking second nationally for truck hijackings.
Another prominent station is Honeydew, which nationally ranks 25th for carjacking, 15th for kidnapping, ninth for property-related crime, sixth for theft of motorcycles, eighth for commercial crimes, 20th for shoplifting and 23rd for drunk driving arrests.
Split resources
Honeydew policing precinct covers over 90km2 and an estimated population of 230 000 spread over two court jurisdictions.
The latter forces officers to transport arrested suspects to either Randburg or Roodepoort police stations, depending on where the arrest was made.
“It is very resource-intensive because if you have three guys in a cell and two are going to Roodepoort and one to Randburg, you effectively have two vans off the road for the period that is busy with those suspects. It does make it difficult,” Honeydew Community Policing Forum (CPF) PRO Michael Steyn told The Citizen.
Makeshift solutions
Compounding Honeydew’s troubles is that it is one of 16 stations in the province where the state rents the land from a private landlord.
The CPF has been very active in its collaborations with station management, helping to establish a victim support centre and a makeshift detention room.
Honeydew’s charge office — the community service centre — is a large container where the partitioning of two rooms, no bigger than a small office, doubles as temporary holding cells.
Steyn says the community has repeatedly asked for a relocation of the station or for a fixed structure to be built, but proposals have yielded little result.
“That’s way above station level [but] unless that actually happens, I don’t foresee any type of permanent holding cells being built,” said Steyn.
NOW READ: Less than 25% of Gauteng police stations have dedicated toilets for GBV victims
