Officers stationed at Honeydew police station feel they are being thrown under the bus for the mob justice incident that led to the murder of eight men in Zandspruit, northwest Johannesburg, who were accused of terrorising the community.
They argued that their workload exceeded their ability to carry out their duties efficiently because they were understaffed to serve an areas that has become notorious for rapidly rising crime levels increasingly
This comes after comments made by police minister Bheki Cele that police and the community dropped the ball when they looked on as the nine men were hauled to the township’s sports ground, stripped naked, assaulted and set alight by a mob.
Six people were arrested for the murders and are expected to appear in the Roodepoort magistrate’s court this week.
An officer, who may not be named because he is not authorised to speak to the media, said they were powerless during the attack.
“There was nothing we could have done. We were outnumbered and could not use lethal force in a situation like that. The crowd was already animated and angry. We did not have enough manpower.”
Another officer said though they understood the criticism, it was difficult to police a vast catchment area with limited resources.
“You have officers who have a lot of dockets that they can’t close because victims decide not pursue the matter. On top of that, they get new cases everyday and that makes it more difficult to work because everything just keeps piling up.”
Kenneth Lekalakala, the community policing forum’s chairperson in the area, said the meeting with Cele was heated as community leaders accused the Honeydew police station of failing to react to reports timeously.
“They [residents] told him that when they call for help, officers take time to respond or do not respond at all,” said Lekalakala.
He said he was aware that the station was understaffed and under-resourced, which made it difficult for police to react to calls for help. “But it's not fair to just point a finger at the police. Victims sometimes don’t care about their cases.
“There are a lot of cases that they have to deal with and they are overwhelmed and the police station covers a big area,” he said.
According to the 2020/2021 fourth quarter crime statistics, Honeydew ranked first in the top 30 police stations with the number of 17 community reported serious crimes, which include murder, attempted murder, assault, robbery and sexual offences.
Between January and March, 2,036 cases were reported at Honeydew police station – a decrease of 345 cases compared to the third quarter of last year. However, the police station ranked first in three of the four quarters under review last year, averaging about 2,000 cases a quarter.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said Honeydew police station’s situation was not unique and that it highlighted broader socio-economic challenges that police cannot resolve independently.
Richard Mamabolo, Popcru’s spokesperson, said the issues plaguing communities such as Zandspruit are a symptom of SAPS in general, which hinder their ability to carry out effective policing.
“The issue of policing these areas is that one has to contend with factors of unemployment and economic migration. You also need to consider other factors that like understaffing. This is a result of budget cuts where you find that it even affects resources. You’ll find that police have one vehicle to police the area. That van can’t be everywhere at the same time.”
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.