Lieutenant Colonel Shunny Govender helms Moffat View SAPS

It has been three months since Lieutenant Colonel Shunny Govender became the Moffat View SAPS station commander, and he loves it.

He said he’s been at the station since before 2010 and has acted in the same position before, making it a seamless transition to where he is today.

“Previously, this station was a substation for Booysens SAPS, and we’ve seen big migration and the mushrooming of flats around it. We are now dealing with about 85 000 people, besides the undocumented people. The City Deep and Nephin Roadblock of flats have significantly increased the number of people in the area,” he said.

Govender touched on some of the challenges they face as a station.

“We’ve lost a lot of personnel due to various reasons. These include resignations, promotions, retirements and transfers. Recruitments used to happen every six months, but now it’s over a year.

“I know the area and its challenges. We can work better to cover the 37 suburbs together with the CPF. It is not easy because crime is not decreasing. However, we are mitigating those challenges. We need to change people’s perception of the police station. One of those is to engage them in working together. They must join the CPF and be actively involved with us.

“In every organisation, there are rotten apples. We need the community to report those, and they must come to the SAPS with concrete evidence. The police are not corrupt on their own, people made them, and I appeal to the community to stop that,” noted Govender.

He also said trio crimes (car hijackings and house and business burglaries) are an issue, especially in Rosettenville, Regents Parks and La Rochelle.

“Let’s work together to keep our belongings safe. Sitting in parks and driveways, especially at night, you become vulnerable to these criminals. They also go for soft targets like Sassa grant recipients. This festive season, we must always be careful and vigilant.

“Damage to infrastructure is on the rise. We have challenges of undocumented people killing our infrastructure. There’s a market out there, and we need to close them down to save our area,” he said.

Way forward in the Moffat View policing area

Govender said he wants to change the area by reducing crime.

“Drugs are a big problem, and I urge the community to come to us with information so we can channel it to the right people, like the K9 Unit. We don’t want to lose the youth to this scourge.

“I’m glad security companies are on board to work with us and Crime Prevention Wardens and the CPF. The community must be our eyes and ears. I reiterate that communities need to get involved with the police station.

We know constant load-shedding does not make our lives easy. That is why we work with the CPF and the private sector. It is a growing partnership that needs nurturing,” he said.

He said to report crime, your first contact point is 10111 and ensure you get a reference number for your call.

From there, you can call your local police station or local CPF. You can contact the Moffat View SAPS on 071 675 6330.