Cape Town - Police officers have to work in the dark and face the risk of attacks during load shedding as a total of 72 police stations across the country being without functioning emergency generators.
This was revealed by Police Minister Bheki Cele when responding to written parliamentary questions from DA MP Okkie Terblanche.
Terblanche wrote to Cele enquiring about the number of police stations in each province that were not equipped with emergency generators.
He also wanted to know the impact this had on policing.
Terblanche also enquired about the time frame set to equip all police stations with generators and physical access control measures.
In his written response, Cele said a total of 72 fully-fledged police stations were not equipped with emergency generators.
His response showed that Gauteng had the most stations at 19, followed by Northern Cape at 14 and Eastern Cape, 11.
Limpopo has nine police stations without generators, Free State and Kwa-Zulu-Natal each have five, the Western Cape four, North West three, and Mpumalanga two.
Cele confirmed that the absence of functional generators during power interruptions had an impact on policing.
He said the impact was as follows:
• Lighting at police stations impacts the functioning of the community service centre, especially at night.
• Functioning of computer and communication systems, which also affected services in the community service centres.
• Attending complaints, dispatching information to vehicles, and all administrative and support functions that were dependent on information systems.
Cele said custody management was also complicated in the absence of light during the required hourly monitoring of cells.
This occurred mainly at night or in cell blocks with limited natural light. “It may also impact the preparation of meals for detainees.”
Cele said at police stations where access control was dependent on electricity, alternative arrangements may have to be made.
“Police stations are also at increased risk of attacks during power outages, especially at night.”
He added that station commanders were required to arrange for the functioning of police stations during load shedding. They could also use battery-operated lights, flashlights and solar-powered lights.
“Alternative arrangements are also made to, for example, capture information in registers to be entered on the information system when power is restored,” he said.
However, the affected police will have to make do without generators and wait a little bit before generators are bought for them.
“A total number of 31 police stations will be equipped with emergency generators by the end of the current financial year, 2022-23.
“The remaining 41 police stations will be finalised in the 2023-24 financial year,” Cele said.
The Cape Times reported last week that the taxpayers forked out about R2 million to supply generators for state houses of ministers.
On Sunday, a police trade union and political parties expressed outrage that there were still police stations that were without emergency generators.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said this was but part of the problems regarding the uneven allocation of resources among police stations.
“This includes staff shortages, wherein you find that at any given time, there are five or fewer officers working on propa night shift, becoming vulnerable to attacks as has been witnessed.
“In some instances, vehicles are parked for months without being serviced, which also affects police's response rates,” Mamabolo said.
He also said the issue of load shedding affected the processing of dockets, leading to further delays and backlogs in supplying the courts with information.
“In the Eastern Cape, some police stations have to close around 6pm as they simply do not have electricity,” Mamabolo said.
Terblanche said the lack of standby generators created a breakdown in service delivery to the communities and a serious security risk.
“Quite a number of especially rural police stations were attacked and robbed. The lives of personnel at understaffed police stations are at risk, firearms and ammunition got stolen as well as exhibits and other government and personal property,” he said.
The NFP’s Munzoor Shaik-Emam criticised the SAPS for not prioritising the affected stations.
“It is totally unacceptable that they will buy some generators in this financial year and others in the next when people are at risk,” Shaik-Emam said.
He said police stations should be exempted from load shedding.
“Eskom must ensure continuous supply of electricity to all essential services. That includes police stations, hospitals and clinics,” Shaik-Emam added.
The IFP’s Zandile Majozi said her party was disturbed by the lack of prioritisation by the government when they delivered on its mandate.
“When the Public Works Department budgets for generators, it should not just provide for the ministers, but buildings used to provide services to the community,” Majozi said.
Cape Times