The Democratic Alliance(DA) is concerned over dockets at Sunnyside and Pretoria Central police stations that are at a high risk of being stolen or lost as detectives travelling with dockets between the two stations.
During an oversight inspection at Sunnyside SAPS as part of the DA’s 100-day #PoliceWatchCampaign to assess the state of the police stations in the province, we discovered that detectives from Pretoria Central had to be relocated to Sunnyside due to dilapidating infrastructure.
The detectives’ health is also endangered due to mould and an unbearable stench from the leaking sewer in the building.
This may have been a good interim solution, however, there is no adequate space for all these officials at Sunnyside SAPS.
Up to six detectives are sharing an office built to accommodate only two people.
Unfortunately, they could not move the filing cabinets from Pretoria Central to Sunnyside, so the detectives are forced to travel with dockets daily.
This is irresponsible and puts the officials lives at a high risk as dockets could be stolen from the officials’ vehicles.
Moreover, there are at least 10 detectives who do not have an allocated table to work on. The detectives take turns at the available desks to work while others sit in the passages and wait for a table.
This further adds pressure on the internet as there are not enough internet lines for all the computers. Sunnyside SAPS has no capacity to accommodate officials from Pretoria Central and this affects the workflow and service delivery.
The DA will write to the Gauteng MEC of Community Safety, Faith Mazibuko, to engage with the Department of Public Works to ensure that infrastructure-related issues at Pretoria Central SAPS are urgently fixed.
Detectives from Sunnyside, Pretoria Central SAPS not only need their dignity back, but they also require the cases they are working on to be secured.
The DA will continue putting pressure on the Department of Community Safety to fully support police stations for Gauteng residents to get adequate police services.