President Jacob Zuma this morning, 19 April 2013, paid a surprise visit to the Sunnyside, Pretoria South African Police Service (SAPS) Police Station, one of the busiest SAPS service delivery points in the Tshwane Municipality.
President Zuma sought to appraise himself about the levels of service delivery at the station, the conditions under which Police officers work, levels and types of criminal activity common in the area as well as the general challenges faced by both the Police and the residents of Sunnyside.
Upon arrival, the President interacted with community members who had come to the station for various reasons and the police officers who were assisting them.
President Zuma later received a briefing from Lt Colonel Bopape, standing in for the Station Commander. Some of the most commonly reported incidents included:
- Theft of motor vehicles, using remote-controlled deactivating devices
- House breaking
- Robberies where robbers used knives to the victims
- Theft out of cars: thieves are using their own remotes
- 60% of crime is only happening on Robert Sobukwe (Essellen) Street, the busiest and biggest street in the precinct
- The area is reported to be full of people who are selling Drugs and the most vulnerable people being students
- The place is overly and mostly populated by foreign nationals
- The foreigners would reportedly rent flats and in turn rent them out to students and there was seemingly no law to prevent such criminal activity from the Municipality
- The student population in the area (including from UNISA, UP, and Colleges) are the common and frequent victims of crime
- Sunnyside was reported to be one of the leading areas for Property crime as there was no law from the municipality to regulate or combat such criminal activity.
The Police also reported to the President that a lot of their work included applications and assessments for firearm possession; affidavits, photocopying, verifying and certifying documents as well as the normal police work which reportedly gets busier on weekends.
The Sunnyside Police Station was being assisted by many young volunteers, who made the work of the Police easier and service delivery better. “I have seen it for myself the type of challenges faced by this station, which is among the busiest in the Tshwane municipal area. I was particularly encouraged by the work of the volunteers and after listening to them, I will raise the matter of their being somehow reimbursed by the state or indeed the whole issue of the much needed resources to the station with the National Commissioner and the Minister of Police,” said President Zuma.
Police management, officers and community members then thanked President Zuma for visiting their precinct and appealed for him to do more of the visits and to other police stations in the Tshwane Municipality.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203
E-mail: macamaharaj@icloud.com
