/ 26 November 2007

Good, bad and ugly of SA’s police stations

Manenberg police station in Cape Town is one of the best-run in the country, while those at Verena in Mpumalanga, KwaMashu in KwaZulu-Natal, and Inyibiba and Mdantsane in the Eastern Cape are among the worst.

These are the findings of a Democratic Alliance (DA) study highlighting the good, the bad, and — in some cases — the ugly side of South Africa’s police stations and the service they offer.

The purpose of the study, DA safety and security spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard told a media briefing at Parliament on Monday, was to ”highlight the reality of the conditions of some police stations”.

Despite assurances given by top police service management, many stations are not properly resourced, managed, or equipped, she said.

Among the main findings of the study is that the efficiency of a police station is mainly a function of the gumption, resourcefulness and leadership skills displayed by its station commander.

According to a study document tabled at the briefing, the three holding cells at Verena police station are in a ”filthy condition”, police officers do not have their own bulletproof vests, and there is a shortage of firearms and insufficient vehicles to operate adequately.

At KwaMashu, there is, among other things, a ”critical” shortage of office space, detectives have completed no specialised training, there is a shortage of firearms and handcuffs, no first-aid kits for vehicles, no roadblock equipment, a shortage of cellphones and vehicles, and no safekeeping facilities for criminal dockets.

Further, there are ”indications of serious racial and interpersonal tension” at the station.

Kohler-Barnard told journalists that police members at the station who spoke to her during her visit were ”seriously reprimanded” afterwards.

She also noted the facility has — according to the Independent Complaints Directorate — had five deaths in its holding cells over the past year.

Disciplinary hearings

At Inyibiba, according to the study document, there are no handcuffs at the station, a shortage of bulletproof vests, and no hand-held radios or first-aid kits for vehicles. The station’s detectives have to share three cellphones.

Kohler-Barnard noted 74 police members at the station have faced disciplinary hearings over the past year, ”mainly for being drunk on duty”.

At Mdantsane, the ceiling of the commissioner’s office is being held up by metal props, while only fax facilities are available, with many of the available computers not connected.

The station has a conviction rate of ”about 4% to 5%”, and its members are facing 292 disciplinary actions, mainly, Kohler-Barnard said, for ”dereliction of duty, including being drunk at work”.

In contrast to what she described as the ”worst police stations in South Africa” is Manenberg.

”This station has been pulled up by its bootstraps,” the study document notes, and is one at which any officer would wish to work. ”The station is spotless, the staff are motivated and the insistence on the highest standards is paying dividends. No infraction is tolerated, and this professional attitude has the station working like a well-oiled machine,” it says.

Kohler-Barnard stressed the study’s finding that good leadership is essential. ”Where you have good leadership, a station runs like clockwork … a good station commander can really turn a police station around,” she said. — Sapa