What was meant to be a much-needed satellite police station in crime-ridden Bramfischerville, Soweto, is standing empty – and no one wants to take responsibility for it.
It had a brand new interior but that has been vandalised. Supposedly “vandal-proof” floors have been ripped out and are, according to residents, sold as scrap mental.
Aluminium doors and windows are missing and the wooden furniture is smashed.
From the main road the entrance stands open and the 30m by 30m fenced-off yard is over-run by weeds.
The branding on the walls is clearly that of the SAPS and its emblem is displayed on the walls.
The abandoned station, which was built in Phase 2 more than a year ago, is yet to render a policing service.
Residents are desperate for a police station in the area, saying even though patrol vans come around from time to time, they remain on the main roads where there are hardly any incidents.
The nearest station – Dobsonville Police Station – is more than 45 minutes walk away. A round trip on a taxi costs R15.
Resident and taxi driver Steve Sefafe said the satellite station has never operated.
He claims that the station is now used as a smoke hub for youngsters in the evenings.
“These boys come in there and smoke. We cannot tell them to stop, we are not cops,” he said.
Another resident who asked not to be named told The Star Africa that incidents of crime, such as burglary, were high in the area, saying time and money were barriers for residents to report the matters on time to the nearest police station.
“So much time is wasted when one walks or even takes a taxi to Dobsonville station. At least this station would have been useful and easier for us to report crime.
“It is very costly. We take taxis to have copies certified while we could have saved money for bread if there was a station here,” said the woman who lives near the abandoned station.
Sydney Motha said residents want police in the community.
“We can’t even run after these robbers because they use the satellite station as a getaway route to Durban Deep informal settlement which is just behind the station,” said Motha.
Gauteng police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou referred The Star Africa to the Gauteng Department of Community Safety for comment.
Department spokesman Thapelo Mailoe confirmed that the satellite police station had never operated.
He said the purpose of having a satellite station in Bramfischerville was to have police closer to the communities, because Dobsonville police station was quite some distance away.
“We wanted to bring services closer to the people,” said Mailoe.
Asked what was delaying the opening of the station, Mailoe referred The Star Africa back to the SAPS.
“They assured the department that it will operate soon.
“Staffing is the responsibility of the South African Police Services,” Mailoe said.
He could not confirm the total costs of the Bramfischerville satellite station. He said the cost had been shared between the SAPS and his department.
“So we are not sure of the overall figure,” he said.
Mailoe said the department was aware of the vandalism and was in consultation with SAPS to allow patrollers to use it in the interim.
NOVEMBER 2011:
* Zandile Sibisi was arrested after she strangled the 10-year-old son of her lover after a love triangle turned nasty. Sibisi, 30, of Bramfischerville, is alleged to have broken into the house belonging to the man she had been in love with. The man was apparently in love with another woman. Neither he nor his other partner were home at the time.
* Convicted rapists and housebreakers Jacinto Chilenge, 26, and Felix Machava, 33, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The two forced their way into the homes of seven Bramfischerville women and raped and terrorised the occupants.
February 2012:
* Thato Mokoka, 16, was killed with a semi-automatic rifle by a student police constable in Bramfischerville. The Grade 9 pupil at Kelokitso Comprehensive School in neighbouring Meadowlands Zone 9, was killed by an R5 rifle that had been on automatic setting in the possession of a 41-year-old student constable when it discharged. The officer, a sector police patrolling officer in Dobsonville, had gone with his colleague, a warrant officer, to a shack where they believed a group of gangsters, known as the BWA, had gathered.
APRIL 2012:
* Seven men and two boys were arrested for allegedly gang raping a 17-year-old mentally challenged girl from Bramfischerville. The gang-rape was filmed in a video clip lasting 10 minutes and 33 seconds. The video shows the girl being raped in an open veld, screaming and begging for the seven to stop as they take turns raping her. The video went viral and made headlines across the world.
The Star