Cape Town - If Police Minister Bheki Cele’s response to Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen on the Makhaza police station matter is anything to go by, the community should have a temporary police station by the end of next month.
Cele indicated that the appointment of the contractor for the placement of the temporary parkhomes was still in progress after experiencing delays. The completion of these parkhomes is estimated to be by the end of March.
In his response, Cele said the bid process to erect the temporary structures encountered a setback due to the non-responsiveness of the bidders, which he said resulted in the cancellation of the bid in September last year.
This necessitated the re-submissions of a new bid which closed on December 14 and was expected to be finalised last month, he said.
Further to this, Cele said the planning and design phase for the permanent police station was expected to be completed by the end of September this year. After that, the bid for the appointment of the contractor would be advertised.
It was anticipated that the contractor would be on site to begin with the construction in January next year for a two-year period, the minister added.
Last year, National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola committed to the erection of a temporary Park Homes building to replace the mobile trailer. Work was expected to begin on November 1.
Masemola was speaking at an imbizo in Khayelitsha in July last year, in response to requests by Makhaza residents for police to provide a progress report on their appeal for a police station.
The establishment of this police station dates back to 2014 when a recommendation was made in the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry report that the Provincial Police Commissioner ensure that a new police station was built in Makhaza. This was to ensure increased policing capacity in Khayelitsha.
Khayelitsha cluster Community Police Forum chairperson Franscina Lukas said this was long overdue and the community had been waiting patiently.
“The government (Department of Public Works and Police) must now move with speed to build the long-awaited Makhaza police station. Crime is not waiting for the procurement processes; it happens daily and is affecting our communities negatively.
“The third quarter crime statistics tell us the story of reported crimes and there might be other crimes committed which were not reported due to a lack of a proper police station in the Makhaza area,” she said.
Social Justice Coalition community organiser Bonga Zamisa said the organisation welcomed the progress made.
Zamisa said Khayelitsha remained under-resourced with police resources and he called on Cele to allocate additional police resources and human resources to police stations as recommended by the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry.