Concerns raised over Ga-Rankuwa police station’s electricity issues

The DA has raised concerns about the safety of Ga-Rankuwa residents because of the ongoing electricity crises faced by the Ga-Rankuwa police station.

According to DA Gauteng spokesperson for Community Safety, Crezane Bosch the station has been without electricity for several months, dating as far back as October 2021, when allegedly the cables, feeding electricity from an Eskom substation, was severely damaged and stolen.

Bosch said this resulted in the police station, court and mortuary being left in the dark.

“It is alleged that Eskom is refusing to repair this substation or restore the electricity to the police station, although electricity to the court and the mortuary was restored.

“This matter has been escalated to the provincial department for assistance and urgent intervention, but with no success,” Bosch said.

“This situation is affecting the police station’s operational services and putting the safety of residents and officers, who specifically work night, shifts at risk.

“The ongoing electricity outage has resulted in the station not being able to connect its computers, and has therefore no access to the 10111 helplines. This means, that the station cannot effectively respond to the calls received on this emergency helpline.”

The station managed to obtain a generator to assist police officers to continue with their work.

However, they are unable to purchase fuel for the generator and in some instances, they have had to purchase the fuel with their own personal funding, due to the lack of support from the provincial government to solve the matter.

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She said police officers are further forced to use their own personal cellphones as the only means of contact to get their job done as the phone lines are also disconnected due to the continuous outage.

“This is not fair towards any officer and not sustainable as these numbers are not public, and once again unreachable to the public.

“There is a need for an urgent intervention to restore electricity. This simply cannot be delayed any further,” Bosch said.

Bosch has written written to the SAPS Gauteng Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, MEC for Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko and the Head of Department for Community Safety requesting an urgent intervention to ensure that electricity is restored immediately.

The police station should be restored to its full operations without any fear or prejudice to any of the local officers, she added.

“It is the responsibility of the SAPS to ensure that all its police stations are adequately equipped with all the basic necessary resources to ensure the safety of residents.”

She said they will continue to engage the provincial government and monitor the situation to ensure that the electricity is restored as a matter of urgency.

Gauteng police spokesperson Dimakatso Sello said the police management in Gauteng is aware of the electricity issue and it has been escalated to the relevant departments.

Sello said there are alternative measures put in place to ensure service delivery is not hampered.

She said the community is advised to call the following numbers should they wish to contact the police station.

Station Commander – 082 416 0808
Vispol Commander – 082 520 1583
CSC Commander – 071 675 6279
Patrol vehicle – 071 675 6277.

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