It is sad to see cops living like animals

It is shocking that the police officers who are expected to defend us against criminals are being forced to live like animals in a dilapidated married quarters barracks in Kempton Park.

As our story and pictures on Friday graphically show, these cops are forced to tiptoe around, and through, overflowing sewage and faeces, leaving or coming back to what should be home.

The building has been allowed to lapse into this state of disrepair by both the police authorities and the department of public works.

And, going from the responses to our queries from both institutions, it does not seem as though anyone there is in a hurry to do anything about the situation any time soon.

Sadly, this appalling state of affairs is yet another indication of the myriad failures of our ANC-led government to provide basic services – not only for ordinary people but also, it appears, for some of the civil servants in whom we, as citizens, place the most trust.

This situation is not, we would wager, due to a lack of funds.

It is because no one who can do something actually cares. That, too, sums up the way many in our administration seem to view the world. That’s just wrong.