Outside the Sun City Police Station in the North West Province, 8 November 2022. Residents have complained that the police station is in a poor state, with official dockets being kept in shipping containers outside on the property. The containers are easily accessible as the fence is broken. Picture: Michel Bega/The Citizen
Broken doors and no lights, crucial evidence such as sensitive evidence samples in cooler boxes, while police dockets linger outside in containers next to a collapsed fence, leaving them vulnerable to theft.
This is the dire and dilapidated state of the Sun Village SAPS, also known as Sun City Police Station in Mogwase, North West.
Despite several villages and tourists who frequent the popular Sun City Resort depending on this police station every day, the premises are visibly unmaintained with not even a proper fence to secure the perimeter.
Outside in the yard, shipping containers are next to a frequently used footpath, facing the busy R565 road, with no fence protecting the documents from vandalism and potential theft.
The Citizen was greeted by a very dim front office when we visited the station recently to see for ourselves. A damaged ceiling hovered over officers as they went about their business.
Two temporary offices that were erected outside a couple of years ago are now dilapidated with no windows, while termites eat away at the structures.
The two rooms were initially utilised for file storage, but documents were later removed as the structures started to fall apart.
All these as the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) pay more than R22 000 monthly rent to the owners of the dilapidated premises, whose identity is known to The Citizen, but withheld due to being unable to reach them for comment.
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Sources at the police station who wanted to remain anonymous as they are not allowed to talk to the media, said efforts to get doors, ceilings and taps fixed, and get more office space fell on deaf ears over the years.
One of the officers told The Citizen:
“There is no more space left inside here. Nothing works properly, everything is broken. We are squashed in an office along with reams of files. It is not a healthy environment to work in.
“What worries us mostly is the lack of space and privacy for victims of rape to feel protected whenever they come to open cases.”
Another said the police station was vulnerable to criminals who could easily access the dockets through the non-existent fence.
“I’ve been to many police stations across the country but I’ve never seen sensitive evidence such as police dockets stored outside without any security in place. And where have you seen evidence samples remaining in a cooler box for days on end?
“That eventually destroys the evidence because they are not properly stored. With thieves robbing police stations nowadays, Sun City would be like a walk in the park for criminals,” said the insider.
According to Democratic Alliance (DA) member of the North West legislature Freddy Sonakile, the provincial government coughs up R54 million on unsuitable buildings.
“Sun City Police Station is one of the privately-owned buildings that are in a terrible state in this province. It serves surrounding communities, resorts, lodges and hotels, and is crucial for tourism in the area, but dockets are outside in a container next to a road. Meanwhile, the government pays rent to a landlord.
“The building has fallen apart. It is imperative to ensure that the men and women in blue are well equipped to prevent and fight crime to keep communities safe,” said Sonakile.
In an emailed response to questions, DPWI spokesperson Thami Mchunu said several meetings were held with the landlords to address maintenance issues but had been too slow in attending to the defects.
“The department is aware of the deteriorating conditions of the building and as a result, we had invited bids for alternative accommodation, but could not receive responsive bids from the public. The department will, therefore, re-advertise the bid to source the suitable bidder/service provider to provide the required accommodation which is conducive to the needs/wellbeing of staff and the general public in an effort to provide essential services to the community.
“Our legal unit has put the landlord in Mora – breaching the terms of the contract to enforce compliance with the conditions of the lease. Some of the outstanding deficiencies identified which were not addressed by the landlord include broken toilet taps, doors, windows, broken handles, damaged fence, lights and air-conditioners.”
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He said the shipping containers on site were donated to the South African Police Service (SAPS) by Sun City owners Sun International, and that his department does not have a record of the donation.
“The department has requested Sun International to remove the containers on the leased premises, and Sun International responded that they do not object to the removal.
“We are still in the process of embarking on a long-term lease (9 years and 11 months) as the previous procurement instruction was for a shorter period.”
Meanwhile, SAPS management said a meeting was held with DPWI to discuss the deteriorating state of the premises in July and the police station was visited by officials twice this year.
While DPWI told The Citizen that bidding was being conducted to source a new building, police said it was agreed that land would be procured to build a new police station.
The SAPS did not provide timeframes as to when the plan will get underway.
“An action plan has been developed to address all the issues identified during the visit. The process for an alternative site has been initiated to identify available land for the construction of a new police station,” said SAPS in a reply to questions.
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