PICS: SAPS members live among human waste, damp, peeling paint and filth

It stinks to be a cop in Kempton Park. By day, members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are expected to serve and protect, yet they go home to a dilapidated excuse for family accommodation, courtesy of the state.

A spread of poo has replaced welcome mats at the SAPS complex’s main entrance. The stench is so bad that it sticks to your palate. You can taste it. The human waste is dammed up along a few tributaries of an algae and toilet paper-filled stream that runs through the parking lot.

The water source: a leaking water pump at the one end of the building and, opposite it, a fountain bubbling up through concrete from likely a burst water pipe.

A resident of the flat complex told The Citizen: “I would rather stay at work than come home to ama-kaka and the rest of this mess. There are leaking pipes everywhere, loose-hanging and exposed electricity cables. We rent these flats from the state, but they don’t give a damn about maintaining it.”

About 50 families stay here, and the resident said despite several pleas to their landlord, nobody has bothered to fix anything – and the place needs more than just a coat of paint. Homeless people invade the property at night for a corner to sleep in and on the day of The Citizen’s visit, a homeless man was discovered overnighting in the building’s ancient-looking lift.

There is graffiti everywhere and in common areas there’s filth in abundance. Where children once played, overgrown weeds flourish. Damp and peeling paint line passage ceilings and broken kitchen and bathroom windows are cardboarded up. There’s not a single unshattered window.

Conditions are awful and more than anyone should have to tolerate from any landlord. The Pascoe Road accommodation belongs to the department of public works, led by Minister Patricia de Lille, leader of the Good Party. But the sense of urgency is bad.

The department said it only expects to register a refurbishment project within the next 12 to 18 months. The department’s Thami Mchunu said: “Currently the building is maintained through day-to-day maintenance through the logging of calls by the client department. Saps, however, also has their own delegation to attend to minor day-to-day maintenance items that fall under their responsibility.”

But the problems are not minor and the department’s lack of attention to what is ultimately a taxpayer asset smells as bad as the poo stench.

The resident said: “I lose myappetite every time I have to step over the mass of faeces.”

According to the resident, previous complaints have fallen on deaf ears. Some families have turned to local ward councillor Jaco Terblanche, seeking municipal intervention. His questions to the Gauteng provincial legislature have been met with silence.

“I first sent questions through last year, a reminder in January and again requested answers from government last month,” Terblanche said.

Simon Lapping, political head for the DA in the area said: “This is disgusting. How can we expect the police to perform their duties optimally when they’re met with crap conditions like this at home, courtesy of their employer?”

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Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Netshiunda, spokesperson for the Saps said: “Saps is looking into the matter and will authenticate the real state of affairs at the barracks. We are an organisation that prioritises the wellbeing of our employees and the conditions as depicted in (The Citizen) photographs will be looked into and necessary actions by relevant role players will be instituted.”

Public works will not be taking swift action. Mchunu said: “A conditions survey of the structure of the facility has been compiled. Other disciplines from professional services will be requested to visit the site and carry out an inspection. After that they will submit a comprehensive conditions assessment report with cost estimates – it may take between 12 to 18 months to have a project registered.”

– news@citizen.co.za