Cape Town - An additional police station for Khayelitsha has been prioritised for the new financial year, the Western Cape's top cop said on Tuesday.
Provincial commissioner Arno Lamoer was testifying on the last day of phase one of the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry into alleged police inefficiency in the area.
“There's a priority to it and a budget already allocated to the building of a police station in Makhaza,” Lamoer said.
Makhaza - an area consisting of formal and informal housing - currently falls under the Harare police station.
Residents argue the Harare station, which covers many other areas in Khayelitsha, cannot cope with the workload officers currently have to deal with.
“It will address the need or the challenges within the Khayelitsha area,” Lamoer said.
The land for the police station had been identified.
“In the case of Makhaza, the land belongs to the City of Cape Town,” said Lamoer.
The public works department was currently in talks with the city to have the land released.
The commission was set up by Western Cape Premier Helen Zille after complaints of police inefficiency in Khayelitsha.
The move was met with resistance by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa who went as far as the Constitutional Court to block the commission. Mthethwa lost his court bid in October last year. - Sapa