Pretoria – The South African Police Service (SAPS) on Friday said it is working on putting interim measures in place to ensure that service delivery at the Criminal Record Centre (CRC) in Pretoria is not compromised after the building which houses the critical unit was closed.
The Bothongo West Plaza, situated in the Pretoria central business district, houses police officials attached to the Criminal Record and Crime Scene Management component.
Among other functions, SAPS national spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said the unit administers criminal records, issues police clearance certificates as well as processing of fingerprint applications for firearms.
“While engagements continue to urgently resolve the impasse that emanates from the closure of the building since Tuesday, 08 March 2022, the organization has already embarked on measures to ensure business continuity by deploying members to other nearby Local Criminal Record Centres (LCRC) to render services,” said Mathe.
“To this end, the SAPS confirms that the service is not in any rental payment arrears as rental payments are being dealt with by the national department of public works and infrastructure.
The SAPS acknowledged the inconvenience caused by the closure of the building and sought to assure community members that the police management is engaging with the relevant authorities to find an amicable solution.
“For service delivery purposes, members of the public are advised that they can still drop off their applications at the Bothongo West Plaza main entrance where personnel will collect and ensure processing of such applications,” said Mathe.
Last month, the SAPS said its services were continuing as normal “and it is business as usual” at its administrative headquarters, the Wachthuis building in Pretoria CBD, despite an announcement by City of Tshwane that municipal services like electricity and water had been discontinued due to massive debt.
SAPS made the remarks amid a social media frenzy after the City of Tshwane announced on Twitter that it had switched off the police headquarters due to R5 million debt. Tshwane has unleashed an ongoing Tswane ya tima (Tshwane switches off) campaign aggressively targeting defaulters and switching off their water and electricity.
Tshwane later announced that services had been restored to the SAPS Wachthuis building after the landlord paid the full amount, exceeding R5 million.
At the time, Mathe explained that the police service is a tenant in the building where it is headquartered, and the municipal bills are paid by the landlords.
IOL