Umhlali SAPS denies crisis
SAPS management refuses now to divulge how many vehicles the station has in total on the grounds that to do so would be a "security risk".
Umhlali SAPS have denied that there is a crisis with the number of police vehicles the station has.
The Courier was met with criticism after publishing an article last week (One car for 66 Cops at Umhlali, February 7) which said the station was under-staffed and under-capacitated, hampering the station’s mandate to ensure public safety and enforce the law.
In spite of the fact that Umhlali SAPS spokesperson Capt Vinny Pillay told a meeting of the Ballito Neighbourhood Watch that the station only had one vehicle, this week he said that in fact the seven uniformed officers operating on each shift have access to two vehicles.
The detective branch has other vehicles.
However, SAPS management refuses now to divulge how many vehicles the station has in total on the grounds that to do so would be a “security risk”.
At a Parliamentary police committee meeting four months ago, police minister Beheki Cele was questioned on the poor management of police vehicles with a total of 61 vehicles across the stations not being operational due to mechanical faults or maintenance problems. And it seems there is no urgency to get them back on the road.
With regards to “the resources and the numbers”, the national police commissioner, General Khehla Sitole, laid out the facts bluntly:
* The SAPS is short of 62,000 members needed to increase visibility throughout the country.
* Over and above the 62,000 shortage, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation is functioning at 50 percent.
* Almost every police station in South Africa does not meet the United Nations’ recommended police-to-citizen ratio of 1:220
Despite the dedicated and diligent police officers who soldier on, often going above and beyond the call of duty, poor working conditions and inadequate support from senior management is another issue hampering the local station.
Certain senior management vacancies at Umhlali SAPS have not been filled since 2016.
Responding to questions from the Courier, provincial head of communications, Brigadier Jay Naicker said the challenges experienced by Umhlali SAPS were similar to those experienced by all police stations across the province.
“At any given stage there may be members that are off sick, on vacation leave or on retirement. The Provincial Commissioner has given all station commanders their marching orders and has instructed that no excuses will be entertained for poor performance. All station commanders will need to prioritise the use of their manpower and resources and ensure that they have a rapid response capacity to deal with serious crime. Stations do not work in isolation but they work within a cluster which has other units that can assist with responding to crimes in progress, crime prevention and visible policing,” said Naicker.
Questioned on the enforcing of by-laws such as drinking in public, Brigadier Naicker said he had escalated these concerns to the acting cluster commander who would ask the local municipality to help with enforcing by-laws when police are dealing with serious crimes.
Asked about the state of vehicles at Umhali SAPS and the number of vehicles available to police officers, Brigadier Naiker said the media should not mention any shortcomings, as doing so would put their members at risk of attacks from criminals “who target our police officers for their firearms. This is especially pertinent for small remote police stations such as Umhlali”.
While the office of the Provincial Commissioner may consider Umhlali “small and remote” the AfrAsia Bank SA Wealth Report for 2019 named Durban-Umhlanga-Ballito corridor as the fastest growing wealth market in South Africa with a 25 percent growth trajectory reported in the last decade.
At an IDP meeting held by the iLembe Chamber of |Commerce last year, it was mentioned that Ballito’s permanent population has grown from 12,000 to 30,000 residents in just over ten years, and said there was a need for an SAPS satellite office in the town.
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