JOHANNESBURG - Western Cape Premier-elect Alan Winde on Monday welcomed the notice given by the province's police ombud that he will be investigating police operations in the Overstrand area.
This comes after claims that Gansbaai, Hermanus, Kleinmond and Stanford police stations are unable to perform their constitutional mandate due to a lack of resources.
"Policing is a national mandate and the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, has to ensure that the stations have all the relevant resources that they require. We have received various complaints from residents about the state of the service in the area and how their complaints are not being addressed," Winde said
The investigation, Winde said, is being undertaken in terms of the oversight mechanisms the Western Cape government has put in place to monitor and address national police services. This includes the police's provincial ombud office which the Western Cape government set up.
This comes after the Western Cape Government on 27 April declared an intergovernmental dispute with the African National Congress-led national government about its failure to address the Province’s Policing Needs and Priorities (PnP).
Winde said that to date, the Western Cape Government has still not received a suitable response from Minister Cele, who now has less than a week to revert.
"Police under-resourcing remains alarmingly high. The province has 1 officer for every 509 residents, while Cape Town has it worse at 1:560. The national average is 1:375," Winde said.
"This means the province needs a further 4,500 officers to be on par with the national average. It is despicable that Minister Cele and the national ANC-led government continue to demonstrate their lack of appetite to address the policing crisis in the Province."
Those wanting to submit representations was asked to contact the police ombudsman on 021 483 0669 or e-mail [email protected].