SA needs cops up and running, Minister Cele

Minister of Police Bheki Cele has revealed there are 1,169 out-of-service South African Police Service (Saps) vehicles in Gauteng alone.

While it’s nothing new – in 2020 there were 1,407 police vehicles out of service and last year that number was 2,170 – it is totally unacceptable.

Having less vehicles for patrol and detective and support services puts the public’s safety at risk and severely hampers the work of the police officers.

Some of the statistics revealed by Cele in a written reply to the DA’s questions in the National Assembly last week are shocking.

Vereeniging has 14 out-of-service vehicles for visible policing, with only 20 operational vehicles. Lenasia has 10 out-of-service vehicles and just nine operational vehicles.

De Deur has 10 out-of-service vehicles and only 11 operational ones, while Krugersdorp has 12 vehicles in for repairs and just 22 vehicles on the road. The list goes on…For support services, Laudium, Dube, Doornkop, Eersterust and Vaal Marina all have only one operational vehicle, with another in for repairs.

If something happens to that single vehicle, they have none. What’s worse, Cele has not given a timeframe when these vehicles will be repaired.

Minister Cele, get your act together.