MANYANE MANYANE

While crime remains the order of the day, corruption and a lack of community cooperation have been identified as the root cause of inefficiency at the Roodepoort and Kempton Park police stations.

This follows the Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety’s recent visit to the two police stations.

The committee said the purpose of the visits was to assess and address key challenges affecting crime prevention and law enforcement in these police precincts.

Both police stations ranked among the 40 worst-performing police stations in Gauteng, according to the SAPS provincial crime statistics.

Chairperson Bandile Masuku said the committee found alarming high crime rates in Roodepoort. These included murder, attempted murder, housebreaking and vigilantism-related shootings. Illegal mining was also highlighted as a major contributor to violent crime in the area.

Other serious crimes such as assault, gender-based violence, rape, robberies and car hijacking were also identified as a significant concern by the committee.

“One of the most concerning revelations was the lack of cooperation from certain segments of the local community. In some instances, community members actively hinder police efforts by stoning and burning police vehicles when they respond to crime incidents, said Masuku, adding that the committee acknowledges the deep challenges faced by law enforcement in this area but insists on greater collaboration with the public to combat crime.

Masuku said the committee identified significant issues related to police corruption in the Kempton Park police station. He said certain police officers were allegedly collaborating with criminals involved in illegal activities, such as the trafficking of drugs.

Asked for a comment, police spokesperson Athlenda Mathe referred questions to Gauteng SAPS. The provincial spokesperson Mavela Masondo said the committee should lay a formal complaint with the police so that the matter can be investigated.

Masuku added that the station was also grappling with an increasing presence of undocumented foreigners in the area, which adds complexity to the already strained law enforcement situation.

The committee also noted the lack of effective collaboration between the police, local councillors, and the Community Police Forum (CPF), which undermines efforts to tackle crime effectively.

“Following the visits, the Committee emphasised the urgent need for improved cooperation between all stakeholders, including the SAPS, local government representatives and community leaders, to tackle crime collectively.

During the oversight process, the Committee, in collaboration with stakeholders, identified key challenges and developed actionable intervention plans aimed at addressing these issues,” Masuku said.

He said the portfolio committee has committed to raise the issues arising from the visits in their regular standing meeting with the Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni to raise concerns regarding resource allocation and the need for strategic interventions to improve policing at these stations.

Masuku said that the committee has extended the call to community members and leaders to forward the proposal evidence of corruption to it so that they can escalate it to the provincial commissioner or Ipid (Independent Police Investigative Directorate).

manyane.manyane@inl.co.za