More allegations of poor services delivery by Newcastle SAPS have recently come to the fore.
A resident wishing to remain anonymous, said he had asked police to remove a woman who was living her car for a few days outside his yard.
“I called the police for help on Tuesday, March 7, and was told there were no vans available to assist me. I phoned again twice on the Wednesday. They said they would send a van shortly, but no one showed up. After three days, a vehicle tracking company contacted them on my behalf, but still the police didn’t show up,” he complained.
He claimed the woman begged food from his neighbours and defecated and urinated on the pavement next to his front gate.
“Every time we went in and out of our yard she swore at us, and every time when my mother left the house, the woman urinated in front of her. We were being provoked by this woman, and the police never showed up to remove her from our neighbourhood.”
The Newcastle Advertiser reported the alleged lack of government vehicles on March 13, after various complaints from other residents.
These were the questions to police asked by the Newcastle Advertiser on February 10:
– How true are the claims that no vehicles are available?
– Why are there such a few government vehicles?
– How many SAPS vehicles are operational in Newcastle?
– How are police officials meant to do their jobs if there are no vehicles available?
– Where are all the vehicles?
– Are they damaged?
– How many government vehicles are still roadworthy?
– Will there be new vehicles allocated to Newcastle SAPS and if so, when and how many?
– How can residents feel safe in the meantime?
– What can a resident do if they are told there are no vehicles available at the time of a complaint? Are there other avenues of protection open to them?
The Newcastle Advertiser received official response on Tuesday, April 4.
SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Corporate Communications Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Thulani Zwane said the Newcastle SAPS station management did not expect to be treated differently than the other 184 police stations in the province regarding vehicle allocation, and confirmed the station indeed had enough vehicles to respond and attend to complaints.
“While it true that vehicles will often go to police garaging either for service, damage, wear-and-tear, breakdowns due to high mileage, etc, there is an average of four vehicles per shift, under the command of the shift commander, with the rank of a lieutenant colonel in charge. Those four vehicles should attend to both sector policing as well as complaints,” he said.
Lt Col Zwane said from Monday to Friday every week the Community Service Centre (CSC) meets to account for the deployment of manpower and vehicles.
Should any member of the community encounter problems regarding service delivery by Newcastle SAPS, the following officers may be contacted for help:
– For uniform or Visible Policing (Vispol), contact Vispol Commander, Colonel Nkosi on 082 558 1374.
– For detective related matters, contact Detective Commander, Colonel Khawula on 082 411 7136.
– For Human Resources Matters (HRM), contact Support Commander, Colonel Goli on 082 551 2382.
– Should the complainant still not be satisfied, and as a last resort, station commander, Brigadier Sumayela can be contacted on 082 376 2864.
“Newcastle Police Station management is committed to render high quality police service, which is stipulated in the police code of conduct, and will root out those few rotten apples among our midst who had the lame excuse not to assist members of the community. Those few officers must in no manner create the perception that at any given point there will be a parked vehicle waiting for any eventuality, as vehicles are booked on the air,” he concluded.
