Tshwane police station a playground for criminals

Dube Police Station in Winterveld, Tshwane, has become a playground for local criminals, with the facility having been plunged into darkness at the weekend after thieves allegedly made off with electricity cables.

According to residents, this comes several months after criminals stripped the police station’s main steel gate of a motor, a crime for which no one has been arrested yet.

New facility, old problems

For decades the police station, situated north of Pretoria, consisted of nothing more than a bunch of makeshift structures, including prefabricated offices with no holding cells.

In 2010, outside contact with the police station was cut off, when thieves stole their telephone cables, forcing officers to use their private cell phones to receive or make work-related calls.

At the time, there were also claims that complainants were made to write their own statements when they visited the police station to open cases.

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Construction of the new facility along Bushveld Road began in 2012, with some services such as victim empowerment support, a detective unit, and support services moving into the new facility in June 2017.

Police Minister Bheki Cele officially opened the new Dube Police Station, responsible for the safety of the northern part of the sprawling Winterveld and, the rural areas of Mmakaunyane and Kromkuil, in April 2019.

But little, if nothing, has changed, with residents lamenting that a police station that can’t even defend itself against criminals does not exactly inspire confidence in the abilities of those stationed there.

Playground for criminals

Local councillor Shangy Mbekwa of the Agenda to Citizenry Governors (ACG) confirmed that the facility’s electricity cables were stolen on Sunday night, but were fortunately replaced by Eskom on Monday afternoon.

An Eskom technician who asked not to be named as they were not allowed to speak to the media confirmed the theft and installation of replacement cables at the police station.

“A few months ago, a gate motor was also stolen from this police station and perpetrators of this crime are yet to be apprehended. If these kinds of incidents persist to occur indiscriminately, it raises concerns about the safety of our communities when police themselves are under attack,” he said.

According to Mbekwa, these incidents were the result of shortage of police officials in the Dube Police Station, saying residents’ outcry on the matter have fallen on deaf ears.

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Winterveld resident Muzi Mnisi echoed Mbekwa sentiments, saying they had hoped the situation would improve when the police station moved into a new and bigger facility.

“A few years back, whilst they were still in the old police station, criminals would occasionally walk into the police station and rob police officers of their service firearms. At some stage, armed gangs would simply walk in to free their gang members held inside a police vehicle,” he said.

Repeated attempts to reach the police station’s spokesperson Warrant Officer Thembi Nowathe have been unsuccessful, and she is yet to respond to messages.

Last November, The Citizen reported how the Sun City Police Station in Mogwase, North West, not only had broken doors and no lights but crucial evidence such as sensitive evidence samples were stored in cooler boxes, while police dockets linger outside in containers next to a collapsed fence, leaving them vulnerable to theft.

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