In the wake of more horrific crimes being reported across the country, police union the Independent Police Union of SA (Ipusa) says had proposals it made two months ago to conduct an audit at cop shops been done, the men and women in blue would be better equipped to deal with crime.
Ipusa says it wrote to police minister Bheki Cele and national commissioner Lt-Gen Fannie Masemola asking them to introduce reforms that will enable cops to improve their service to the communities they serve.
General secretary Mpho Kwinika said among the issues they wanted done is for an audit to be conducted on police human and material resources in the 1,154 stations across the country.
Kwinika said the audit would enable police to have a clear picture of which stations are struggling with resources such as vehicles, an issue that most crime-ridden communities have complained about.
Ipusa also proposed that police stations should be allowed to buy equipment needed to fight crime such as vehicles and bullet-proof vests directly from service providers to end delays in procurement, he said.
“Stations give the details of what they require in the financial year to the national commissioner. We are saying let the stations buy as that will be quicker. Bring all those people who are at the divisional level [where procurement is made] to the police station where they are needed most.
“In the current situation, it takes longer to get equipment to the station where it is needed. If you look at the cars, the station knows that they have 20 vehicles but 10 are in the garage for fixing. If five of the 10 cars are written off, they will never get any help in the current system as they will have to wait for the new financial year,” Kwinika said.
He said police stations would still buy from the National Treasury registered database.
Kwinika said moving personnel from the divisional office to police stations should be done according to the needs, which will allow only the stations that require more resources to get personnel.
“Most of the people who are at the divisional level are not support staff but police officers who have the capacity to go and fight crime.
“Police stations could have bought PPEs (personal protective equipment) themselves but the tender was centralised and there were allegations of corruption,” he said.
Kwinika said they did not receive any feedback from Cele and Masemola.
Cele's spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said it was "tricky" to confirm whether they have received the letter from Ipusa as it was a Sunday.
National police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe's phone went unanswered and she did not respond to requests for comment via text on Sunday.
Shortage of equipment such as vehicles has been cited by several communities Cele visited after violent crimes had taken place.
On Friday, SA woke up to shocking news about a group of eight women who were raped and robbed by an armed gang believed to be illegal miners, known as zama zamas, in West Village, Krugersdorp, on the West Rand.
According to police, the women were at a mine dump in the area to shoot a music video.
Some of the women were raped by as many as 10 men.
Police immediately activated an operation around the mine dumps where the crime happened and over 80 people were arrested in two days.
Police spokesperson Brig Brenda Muridili said none of those arrested had been linked with the gang rapes yet.
She said the men are expected to appear in the Krugersdorp magistrate’s court for contravening the Immigration Act on Monday.
dlaminip@sowetan.co.za
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