Eldorado Park | Thursday
THE entire staff compliment of the Eldorado Park police station, south of Johannesburg, has until Friday to seek voluntarily transference due to alleged corruption there, Gauteng police authorities said.
”The move is basically part of redirecting resources in accordance with service delivery,” a representative for Gauteng safety and liaison MEC Nomvula Mokonyane said on Wednesday.
Carlton Nkutha said it was the prerogative of police management to deploy staff following a needs analysis, and there were numerous complaints about the police station.
The allegations included corruption, lack of discipline and detectives selling dockets.
Earlier on Wednesday, the secretary of the community policing forum (CPF) in the area, Willie Lucas, said no reason was given for the redeployment.
Lucas said about 123 people were affected and most had until Thursday to report to their new posts.
”The detectives had to hand over their dockets this morning at 10am. They don’t know why they are being transferred,” he said, adding that the CPF sought an explanation from the police’s area and provincial commissioners.
But by late on Wednesday morning none had been forthcoming other than the decision had been taken at national level and that it was ”political”.
Gauteng police representative Superintendent Madelein Bunce confirmed the development, but could not comment further.
This is the first time that police have been deployed elsewhere due to allegations of corruption, lack of discipline and the sale of dockets.
In April 2000, the top management of the Chatsworth police station outside Durban was transferred on instruction of the national police commissioner Jackie Selebi due to mismanagement.
Nkutha said the provincial government would deploy those who did not willingly seek a transference.
He said new staff members would be deployed at the Eldorado Park police station and a contingency team would be there to assist them with the dynamics of policing for the area.
”The public is assured that everything possible would be done to ensure that the process does not affect service delivery at all levels there,” he said.
Nkutha said the staff at the Eldorado police station was requested to seek voluntarily transference to other police stations in Soweto.
The Eldorado policing area fell under Soweto, and the policemen would be sent there because ”they are going to be kept in the area”. – Sapa