The country’s top cop has announced his grand plan to beef up police stations and tackle skollies in the Western Cape.
Newly-appointed police commissioner, General Kehla John Sitole, visited Bishop Lavis Police Station yesterday where he said as part of a national turnaround strategy, the Western Cape would be part of a pilot project to tackle gang violence and drugs.
Sitole is visiting stations around the country to share his plan to improve policing in South Africa, which includes a plan for a police estate where officers will have a safe place to live so they can perform better.
“The Western Cape is one of the pilot projects for the migration of police resources from the strategic framework to the local policing framework,” he said.
“In our history we have taken more resources to the top and this is something we have corrected. That has resulted in the draining of police stations. With the turnaround, we are moving those resources back to the stations.”
He said police have identified precincts in the Cape with the biggest number of perpetrators of crime and says the populations have outgrown the station profiles.
“One critical police station is Nyanga, but there will be resources sent to stations which are problematic,” said Sitole.
He said as part of Operation Fiela 2, launched by Police Minister Fikile Mbalula several weeks ago, the army was on their way to the Cape Flats but would not indicate when as he wanted to surprise skollies.
“I have a vision for a police estate because the barracks system is not sufficient because they have to leave the barracks and entertain themselves somewhere else and there are criminals around watching them.
“If you have an estate, they have a place where they can do everything and it will be safe. When they feel safe, their morale will be high.”