Police Minister, Bheki Cele officially opened the Makhaza Police Station in Khayelitsha, on Thursday.
According to the police ministry, this is a fully-fledged police station that will operate at full capacity offering all policing services from crime prevention, visible policing and investigation services to a population of 85 000 residents.
Makhaza Police Station is the fourth station to be built in
the area.
Cele also handed over fifteen new vehicles fitted with
Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) which is a system that can assist
police to detect stolen vehicles by detecting if a vehicle is registered or
licensed.
‘’We will continue to advocate for the building of more
stations so communities are able to have greater access to services. A police
station must be in close reach and a walk away for victims of crime and
communities. We hope this station will address murders, rape and violent crime
in this area. We also welcome the ANPR system that will enable us to recover
stolen vehicles and suspicious activities”, said Bheki Cele, Police Minister.
Earlier in the day, a SOD turning ceremony took place at
the Tafelsig police station which marked the start of the construction of a new
police station. When completed, which is set for November 2026, this Police
Station will be the third station in the Mitchell’s Plain area.
Reacting to this, and Western Cape’s Police Oversight &
Community Safety MEC, Reagen Allen, says these SAPS stations were long overdue.
‘’We urge SAPS to ensure this new Makhaza SAPS station,
which is led by a Lieutenant Colonel is afforded the necessary human resources
that are required, so that they are able to alleviate the pressure that Harare
and the other stations are experiencing.’’
‘’These residents [in Tafelsig, Mitchell’s Plain]are
currently using the services at Mitchells Plain station, which has a
police-to-population ratio of 1:600. Had SAPS been under the capable management
of the Western Cape Government(WCG), these stations would’ve been constructed a
long time ago. We would not allow communities to experience these levels of
crime and not attend to it,’’ added Allen.
Mayco Member for Safety & Security, JP Smith, welcomed
the progress of the two SAPS stations. The Makhaza site was sold by the City to
the Department of Public Works in 2018 and the Tafelsig site in 2014.
‘’The City also recently sold the site for the new Belhar
police station at a discounted rate, approved the lease of a portion of our
Nyanga Depot Building in New Eisleben in Nyanga and is working with SAPS on a
Browns Farm satellite police station with a further facility to follow in Mfuleni. The City of Cape Town is committed to working
with SAPS and facilitating the release of land and buildings to increase police
stations within the city.’’
‘’As we look forward to the expansion of more SAPS
facilities and resources, we reaffirm our resolve to continue working hand in
hand with SAPS and other stakeholders to create safer, more resilient
communities for all through sharing our policing resources and technologies
from the City, and continued collaboration with SAPS on the ground,’’ added
Smith.
He called on Cele to distribute more SAPS resources within
Cape Town by ‘’modernizing SAPS through computer-aided dispatch and other
technological advancements within the policing sector and by boosting the
number of police officers and detectives at police stations. ‘’
‘’We cannot push back against gangs, extortion, and
construction mafias with more boots on the ground alone - we need to start
making meaningful arrests that lead to convictions,’’ said JP Smith, MMC for
Safety & Security.
Rise Mzansi candidate for Western Cape Premier, Axolile
Noywala, said the building of the Makhaza SAPS is one of the recommendations by
the Commission of inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.
‘’Many of those recommendations are important to assist
police here to be able to do their work. There are a number of informal
settlements that exist around the police station, and recommendations around
policing guidelines in informal settlements, which has not yet ben undertaken.’’
WATCH: Western Cape Premier Candidate, @AxolileNotywala says the building of the Makhaza Police Station is one of the recommendations by the Commission of Inquiry into policing in Khayelitsha.
#AxolileForWCPremier #WeNeedNewLeaders pic.twitter.com/gSsIUCcFP2
Done by: Mitchum George
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