Cape Town - More boots on the ground.
That was the message from the Police Oversight and Community Safety Department in a briefing to the Community Safety Standing Committee at which they presented their Police Needs and Priorities (PNP) report.
The department said the shortage of human and physical resources in the police had consistently emerged as one of the policing needs and priorities raised in the Western Cape since 2014.
MEC Reagen Allen told the committee the number of officers assigned to the Western Cape decreased to 15730 last year from 16240 in 2021.
Allen said while the 1 118 new recruits announced in December would assist in the Province’s capacity, the vacancy rate was still a concern.
TThe department’s policy and research director, Amanda Dissel, shared data with the committee which showed that while the police to population ratio in the Western Cape was 1:457, with the City of Cape Town’s set at 1:622 on average, there are some stations operating at ratios above 1:800.
These include those of Harare, Samora Machel, Gugulethu and Delft. Meanwhile, the current SAPS national police-to-population ratio increased from 1:413 in 2021 to 1:430.
The committee was told that as a result of the ratios, the case load of detectives was on average well over 200 dockets per person, which is 333% above the 50-60 case standard.
The committee also heard out of 38 SAPS stations monitored for service delivery and infrastructure issues, only 31.6% of them had access control points. Additionally, 26.3% had no holding cells and 10.5% had no detention facilities.
Committee chairperson Gillion Bosman (DA) said: “These figures are an indication that SAPS no longer has the ability to maintain or build new infrastructure.
“A case in point is that of Makhaza police station, which has remained at planning and design stages for the past nine years with no reasons for the delays given.”
After the briefing, committee member Ayanda Bans (ANC) said the PNP had exposed the DA’s failures in combating crime, especially gangsterism and other violent crimes.
Bans said: “There is a clear disjuncture in the recommendations of the PNP and what the provincial government is doing to fight crime.
“Besides the deployment of Law Enforcement Advancement Plan (Leap) officers, the provincial government has relegated its role to being a distant spectator and armchair critic.”
Bans also called for Leap officers to be deployed to rural communities. She said areas outside the metro contribute to 47% of crime while the city contributes to 53%.
Regarding the SAP’s specific queries from members, the committee resolved to call the provincial commissioner and his team to their next briefing on March 7 and invited MEC Allen and his team.
mwangi.githahu@inl.co.za