Community demands new police station

KwaThema – Community says they will stop at nothing to ensure they get a new police station.

After shutting down the main building and working from state vehicles last month, staff at KwaThema Police Station are back in the building. But the community will not accept it.

On Monday morning they picketed outside the main building, calling for a resolution from the national office of the SAPS.

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Lindiwe Lasindwa, chairperson of infrastructure of legislature, says after learning of the shut down last month she took it upon herself to bring the stakeholders to the table.

“I had a meeting with province (SAPS) and discovered that national office of the SAPS would be responsible for such matters.

“I organised a meeting with SAPS, public works and Ekurhuleni metro.”

Lasindwa says they discovered that the SAPS has leased the building from the metro since 1966.

“Part of the delay is caused by the fact that no one is owning up.

“The metro says the building is the responsibility of SAPS and SAPS says they can’t maintain a building they don’t own.

“Public works says they can’t commit until SAPS requests the land officially from the metro.”

In the end, she says SAPS revealed that they have a budget to renovate the dilapidated building.

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“But we don’t want that. We want a new building.”

On Monday the concerned group expected to receive the resolution of the meeting between KwaTheme SAPS and representatives from the national office.

This after Lasindwa alleges the representative said they don’t want to speak to politicians.

“It’s fine, I left. As long as we will have feedback.”

Lasindwa says they also demand temporary structures such as park homes for the officers to work from. The holding cells also don’t work.

“The staff’s morale is low. The community is also not safe and the officers are not safe in this building. Twenty-four years down the line we are still crying for the simplest thing, something so basic.”

The group met on Monday morning at 8am to demand the resolution.

“We will demand the resolution until they tell us what is going to happen. The minister of police needs to intervene. This is a crisis.”

The concerned group says they have not received anything in writing.

Our efforts to get comment from KwaThema SAPS have been in vain.