Cape Town - Nearly 60 new vehicles were donated to the provincial South African Police Service this morning.
The 58 vehicles were handed over by acting provincial commissioner of police Major General Thembekile Patekile.
He said this is the first batch and there will be more vehicles handed over in a month or two.
He said the vehicles would be spread across the province to help the fight against crime and some would be used in the incoming and outgoing routes to the province.
“The routes in and out of the province are used for a lot of things like gun and drug smuggling into the province and also there are criminals that are trying to escape the province and those coming in using these routes,” he said.
He said the police will now be visible in these routes to fight any illicit dealings.
Patekile said the boost will help them deliver their service to the communities and appealed to communities to help them take good care of the vehicles.
“Communities must report any misuse of police vehicles because we always hear that our vehicles are being misused, we are also appealing to communities not to stone the vehicles because whenever there are protests, police vehicles are stoned,” he said.
He added that the vehicles are community resources and they should look after them.
Patekile said the vehicles will contribute a lot in the fight against crime and any help they get for resources is a big help.
Acting provincial chairperson of the Community Police Forum Francina Lukas said they welcome the boost given to the police to fight crime.
She said the shortage of vehicles for police is a big problem and this would help a great deal.
“I hope that those who will be using the vehicles will use them responsibly because having police vehicles in mechanics when they should be out there fighting crime is not helping the cause,” said Lucas.
Weekend Argus