Cape Town - People in Langa say their police station is dysfunctional, with incompetent and corrupt police officers who had brought shame to policing in the area.
This was one of the sentiments aired when the administration of the police station was discussed during a SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) stakeholder engagement on policing challenges in the area.
The engagement followed the alleged assault of station commander Diedre Engelbrech by a detective on Wednesday last week. It also followed ongoing service delivery failures experienced by the community at the police station.
The Langa police station and its police officers have caused controversy for some time, with residents calling for its closure.
In August last year residents, led by anti-gender-based violence community organisations, demonstrated at the station over the police’s alleged failure to prioritise rape cases. In June enraged residents, calling the police “useless” and in support of the community patrollers, called on police to improve service delivery.
The SAHRC’s Western Cape officer, Eugene Ramaphalane, said there had been serious allegations against some members of the police, including an allegation that the police were demanding protection fees from local shops owned by foreign nationals.
“The Constitution guarantees the safety of all people and SAPS policy talks of serving and protecting the public. So if citizens are saying they are not safe in a community where there is a police station, then this means there is a violation of human rights and such issues need to be addressed,” Ramaphalane said.
“We are as concerned as the provincial office, especially of what we have heard today, but again excited that stakeholders are willing to come forward and we look forward to working with them to resolve these issues .”
Anele Gqasana from the Langa Community Advice Services office said divisions among the station management and staff were at the centre of the station’s dysfunctionality.
“The police station’s ineffectiveness has resulted in the community losing trust, which resulted in a call by the residents for it to be shut down. The SAPS is mandated to protects citizens and if they fail, there needs to be remedies,” Gqasana said.
“We are approaching the festive season but we do not have a station commander or a deputy and this needs to be fixed immediately because it threatens our security. We need new members at the police station because those members are residents in the area, hence they take advantage.”
Gqasana said a safety patrol had managed to deal with crime issues, curbing petty crimes and that if it was not for them criminal activities would skyrocket.
Local police management was invited but failed to attend. Ramaphalane said the commission would engage the local police management.