‘No wonder crime is so rife’: 40% of KZN’s police cars out of use, repair time blamed

Police in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), which has some of the country’s murder and rape hotspots, are having to fight crime without being able to use 40% of the SAPS’ vehicles.

In a written reply to a parliamentary question from DA MPL Sharon Hoosen, Community Safety MEC Peggy Nkonyeni revealed that out of the 4,227 police vehicles in KZN, 1,716 are being repaired.

The latest crime stats released in February showed murders in KZN increased by 245 cases. The province’s Inanda police station had the most murder cases in country with 83.

The KZN regions of Umlazi, Inanda, Plessislaer and KwaMashu-East had the most cases of attempted murder.

Umlazi also recorded the second-highest number of rapes and was among the highest for residential robberies.

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Meanwhile, some South African Police Service (Saps) stations are without vehicles for weeks, or even months, for repairs.

Lengthy repair times

In Inanda, it took 113 days to repair a vehicle with an electrical starting fault. The same station also had a car out of action for 72 days for a minor brake overhaul.

In Umlazi, a car was unable to be used for more than five months because it needed minor body work. It took 130 days to fix the electric wiring and accessories on a vehicle from Umlazi’s K9 unit. Meanwhile, a simple battery replacement took almost three weeks.

In Plessislaer, minor brake repairs took 121 days to complete, while minor exhaust repairs needed two-and-a-half months.

In Pietermaritzburg, fixing a windscreen took 193 days.

Backlogs blamed

Ronald Goniwe, the acting head of KZN’s Community Safety Department, blamed backlogs at the workshops for the delay in repairing the vehicles.

He said interventions were being made to prevent these backlogs. These include the procurement of additional tools for the artisans; procurement of more advanced power tools; product training; and weekly meetings with garage commanders.

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No evidence of a backlog

However, an owner of a business on the KZN south coast that is contracted with Saps to repair their vehicles says there are fewer police cars entering his workshop.

The workshop owner, who asked to remain anonymous, says he used to work on two to three police vehicles a week. The number of jobs have dropped drastically though – he has only received three jobs from the Saps this year.

According to the Parliamentary reply, there are 72 vehicles currently being repaired in the south coast region.

However, the workshop owner said there are about 20 approved merchants in his street that work on police vehicles. They’ve all seen a decrease in the number of jobs from the police. He also said vehicles should come to the approved merchants on a rotational basis to ensure there is an equal number of cars at each business.

He said, for this reason, it makes no sense that there are backlogs in police vehicles being repaired.

“It’s in your favour to do the job quickly and get paid for the job sooner,” he added.

Rising crime stats

Sharon Hoosen, the DA’s KZN Spokesperson on Community Safety, said the lack of police visibility in the province is made worse by the unavailability of so many vehicles.

“If these are the kind of turnaround times being experienced, then it is little wonder that lawlessness is so rife in our province. There is a direct correlation between these vehicles being unavailable and KZN’s rising crime statistics,” said Hoosen.

“It is clear that urgent interventions are needed for the sake of our communities who are in dire need of a safe and crime-free province,” she added.