WATCH | 305 cops serve nearly a million Alex residents

Alexandra township in Johannesburg, an area with one of the highest crime rates in the country, has 305 police officers serving a population of about a million people.

This came out during a public participation meeting in Alexandra between the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the residents to discuss policing issues they have and what needs to be done to resolve them.

The SAPS is holding 100 public participation meetings across 11 police stations in the country.

Speaking at the event, Col Sambureni Mawundla from the head office division of visible policing revealed that at least 305 police officers are deployed to service the area. However, they need 468.

We only have 305 active boots on the ground [in Alexandra] compared to what we need because of budget constraints and vacancies.

—  Col Sambureni Mawundla

“We only have 305 active boots on the ground compared to what we need because of budget constraints and vacancies. Currently Alexandra police station has about 25 vacancies,” Mawundla said.

This means there is one officer for about 3,200 residents.

A resident and tourism expert in Alex, Rachel Phasha, said this is a mismatch of human resources. “How can 305 officers serve a population with a million people? The ratio is too small,” she said.

“Our police are overworked. We can blame them for saying they don’t deliver but their numbers don’t serve the population. There is a reason to ask for another police station or two. As someone in the tourism business bringing people here, I am always concerned about safety and consistently have to ask patrollers to assist for free.

“In turn, they are not even recognised in the scheme of things if they are not part of CPF. They do most of the work where police and CPF can’t reach, just for free.”

A patroller contended that at least 30 of their members have been killed over the past year trying to make Alex safe.

“We ask police to come to crime scenes. They come after 10 hours or not come at all. They claim there are no cars. Others will tell you it’s not within their jurisdiction.

“We face high crime in the community, armed only with walkie-talkies and bare hands, while also being labelled ‘illegal structures and extortionists’ by police — a stigma that puts our lives at risk.

“We are the eyes and ears and go to areas where police and CPF can’t reach with cars. We know every corner of this township but there is no recognition that we are arrested or killed trying to protect the community. This is demoralising.”

According to the patroller, in the past 10 days alone, they picked up nine bodies on the streets.

Sandile Mavudla, Alex sector 4 CPF chairperson, said the community is a crime scene where each day someone is killed, robbed, or hijacked.

“The proof is the last quarter’s crime stats,” he said.

Latest crime stats for the third quarter of 2025/2026 recorded that Gauteng had the greatest number of carjackings, with Alex ranked second in the province after Mamelodi East.

According to the stats, Alexandra police station also ranks:

• eighth in the province for 17 community-reported serious crimes;
• 23rd in the national top 30 stations for most crime reported;
• top in the province for sexual assault crimes;
• third in the province for common assault; and
• fourth in the province for assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm.

Sibabalo Mgijima, interim chairperson for CPFs in Alex, said drug abuse is the root of crime in the community.

“Every time when these drug users are high, this is when hijackings and murders happen. Often when we attend to the crime scenes, most of these people are not sober,” he said.

The situation is so bad that drugs are being sold at every third house, he said.

“Police are stricter on tavern operators in their operations — they quickly close them. But drug sellers continue with business as normal and are not scared of this public participation. We want to understand what the plan is.”

Mawundla said the feedback from the community will help determine the number of police and resources to allocate to Alex based on the population, socio-economic factors and crime trends.

Sowetan