Cape Town - The Parliament’s portfolio committee on police has slammed the SAPS for not dealing with the top 30 crime stations in the country.
Chairperson of the committee Tina Joemat-Pettersson said no adequate steps have been taken to address issues at these police stations.
SAPS appeared before the committee on Wednesday to report back on the latest crime statistics.
Murders in the country increased by 20.7% in the second quarter, between July and September, with a total of 6 163 people killed.
Among the top 30 police stations were Nyanga, Inanda, Umlazi, Delft, Mfuleni, Plessislaer, Kraaifontein, Harare, KwaMashu and Khayelitsha.
Joemat-Pettersson said the police are not doing enough to address the high crime numbers, especially in the top 30 police stations.
“Why do we have the top 30 crime stations remaining as the top 30 crime stations? What steps are being taken to address the crime statistics at the top 30 crime police stations? You cannot have the same police stations being the top 10, top 20… as if these are matric results and it’s fashionable to be in the top 30.
“Why does Nyanga remain at the top for years? It was taken off for the last two years, but now it’s back on top. It’s like a beauty contest. What have you done to take these stations off this list,” she probed.
“These stations cannot be on the top 30 lists for years. It means that SAPS is not working to reduce the crime at those stations. This [Nyanga] is the same police station where a constable raped someone. We are not just going to have crime statistics presented to us and then you run off to a press briefing then we are unable to interrogate those crime statistics,” she said.
Joemat-Pettersson further blamed SAPS for the public’s lack of confidence in police and the police committee as it is the responsibility of Parliament to monitor police and perform oversight.
National police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khehla Sithole said on the issue of the top 30 stations, he had given instructions to have the top 30 approach reviewed.