POLOKWANE – Residents say they will die in life threatening situations while waiting for the police to respond after calling for assistance.
According to residents, the police do not respond immediately when an incident is reported and only come to assist about an hour after a complaint was lodged at the 10111 call centre.
“It is useless to call 10111 because by the time the police arrive at the scene, the worst had already happened, which could have been prevented if only the police responded quicker. It’s either the perpetrator fled the scene and is nowhere to be found or in a domestic violence situation the victim was already badly assaulted by the suspect,” a resident said.
This comes after a woman in her 70s from Westenburg called the police for help after a man threw a brick through one of the windows at her home.
The woman’s son, who lives in a room in her yard, allegedly had an argument with a tavern owner not far from their home.
Her son allegedly assaulted the tavern owner, who seemingly got someone to pay revenge. The person went in the back yard and threw a brick through the window.
The woman called the police and when they did not respond, she called her other son for help.
The woman feared for her life and did not know what to do, as the man allegedly threatened her, because she did not know where the son that they were looking for was.
“The police only responded more than an hour after we reported the matter. We called several times and what frustrated me was the fact that the Westenburg police station is about a five minutes drive from my home,” the woman said.
Another woman from Westenburg, who lives a street away from the police station, said whenever her husband came home drunk, he caused trouble at home and argued with her and her children.
“When I call the police, they only arrive 30 to 45 minutes after reporting the incident. So far, we have been lucky that my husband was so drunk that he passed out while we waited for the police. Because he gets so angry, I fear he might hurt me or my children,” the woman said.
Col Ronél Otto, provincial police spokesperson, said the provincial police were working on a programme to improve police response times.
“The 10111 is a call centre, which dispatches complaints as they come in to the relevant police stations for immediate attention. The problem is not at 10111, but at the stations, which will receive urgent attention for improvement. We urge residents to know who their sector commanders are, and station commanders so they can report such matters directly.”
She asked that residents visit their local police station and familiarise them with the contact details, which are available at each station, of the station commander, detective commander and crime prevention commander.
Residents in the Westenburg policing area can report matters to the Westenburg police station at (015) 292 9410/15.
