Cape Town -
The Western Cape will receive six mobile police stations by the end of this financial year.
That was the message delivered by Deputy Police Minister Maggie Sotyu at the launch of a mobile police station in Site C, Khayelitsha, on Friday.
Sotyu also had good news about the Makhaza police station, saying building would begin in 2018 and take possibly three years to complete.
More than 1 000 people from Khayelitsha and surrounds attended Friday’s event, raising their concerns about crime.
Noxolo Zumane asked Sotyu if the mobile station was a political ploy to garner votes ahead of the election.
“Will this station be removed again after the election like all other empty promises that the government has fed us through the years?” she asked.
Vuyokazi Cekani of the ANC Youth League in Khayelitsha, was happy about the mobile station, but asked if it would stay open “if the leading party was to perhaps lose in the upcoming elections”.
Nosimanye Dyonasi, a shack-dweller and mother of three, said people as young as 15 were carrying guns.
Th mobile police station would help, as her family had been robbed eight times in three years.
“Police response is very poor because the police station is far, so this mobile police station will ensure that we have vans nearby,” she said.
Police Minister Nathi Ntleko said the community faced many challenges, but “working together we can fight crime”.
“We need street lighting, adequate water and all other necessary things to ensure a civil society. We, therefore, urge community leadership to stand up and stand together with the people.”
He urged people to take care of the mobile police station, and to work with police to help fight crime in the area.
Saturday Argus