GARDEN ROUTE NEWS – Western Cape Minister of Community Safety and Police Oversight Reagan Allen surprised a number of police stations and the mayors of four Garden Route municipalities with an unannounced oversight visit to the area on Monday 15 August.
Allen's visit to Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and George follows "deep concern" at provincial level about policing throughout the province, along with the "continued chronic under-resourcing of the police in the Western Cape by the national government".
Allen said the understaffing that is plaguing the province impacts on the police officers and detectives at station level in combatting crime.
Allen visited the mayor, speaker and portfolio chairperson of the Bitou Municipality in Plettenberg Bay and Knysna, the mayor of George and the mayor and deputy mayor of the Garden Route District Municipality. Police stations visited were Plettenberg Bay, Knysna and George.
"Furthermore the visit was to engage the police to establish what some of their needs are so that this could be tabled and discussed with the SAPS Provincial Commissioner, Lt-Gen Thembisile Patekile," he said.
"Matters at these stations have been highlighted for some time and, like many other stations across the province, the national management is just ignoring them. The fourth quarter crime statistics for 2021/22 indicated that Thembalethu in George had an increase in its murder rate of 16,7%, or two additional cases, compared with the previous year.
A further concern for the region was sexual offenses.
"During the fourth quarter of 2021/22, Thembalethu had a 56% or 14 more sexual offence cases, while Knysna had an increase of 21% or seven more cases compared with the previous year. Conville in George showed an increase of 29,6%, or six more cases, whereas George had a reduction of 12%, or three fewer cases.
"Assault cases, with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm, increased in Knysna over the same period by 16,5% or 18 incidents."
Allen said at one police station he visited there was an acting station commander and no warrant officers, and this affected the command structure of certain shifts. Priority posts at such stations are not being filled.
At another, detectives have a high number of dockets, but only two officers supporting them. Two out of three police stations had queues of people waiting to be assisted, and this was largely for the certification of documents.
Western Cape Minister Reagan Allen, Bitou Mayor Dave Swart and Garden Route District Municipality Mayor Memory Booysen during Allen’s “surprise” oversight visit to Plettenberg Bay on Monday.
Allen said Patekile "will be engaged about these challenges and how they can be addressed".
"We once again saw why it is vital for policing to be devolved to a capable provincial government such as ourselves.
"We will, among other things, ensure that resources are allocated according to the needs, data and evidence of the precinct.
"We will restore a sense of pride in the service, the infrastructure and overall confidence in the police."
He said the surprise visit formed part of his outreach to all districts.
"Safety, and in this instance rural safety, is a priority for the Western Cape Government. The purpose was to have an introductory engagement with all mayors and portfolio chairpersons so that I could present safety, while at the same time receiving a bird's eye view of the status in the municipal areas, their concerns and how these municipal areas could potentially be assisted," said Allen.
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