Senior police officers in the North West have been accused of preventing an EFF MP from doing her job.
This happened recently, while Sharon Letlape, a member of the portfolio committee on police, was conducting an unannounced oversight visit at two police stations in Rustenburg.
Letlape faced hostility when she arrived at the Tlhabane and Boitekong police stations. The station commander in Tlhabane requested a formal letter before her visit.
“I told him that I was there as an individual with the responsibility and mandate to do oversight in entities of government, and he still refused,” said Letlape.
“He insisted that I write something to him, to the point where he even called the police deputy commissioner [general Patrick Asaneng].”
Letlape said the portfolio committee she serves on went there to check on the status of the police stations and any challenges they may be facing.
She expressed disbelief at how the station commander in Tlhabane treated her.
“He was so arrogant that he pointed me with fingers and said he is the station commander, and I am going to do what he says; he got his ways of doing things, and I am going to listen to him.”
During this financial year, Tlhabane police station ranked second among the country’s top 30 police stations for other serious offences.
Boitekong police station ranked 30 among the top police stations for assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
In the previous financial year, Boitekong police station ranked 29 in the top 30 police stations for sexual offences and 28 in the top 30 stations for assault with intent to inflict serious bodily harm.
Stations’ history of crime
“You look at the crime history of these stations, and we try to go in and zoom in to what could be the challenges that make the services of SAPS so imperfect that even the communities lose trust in SAPS. And this is what you get,” she said.
After receiving a briefing from the station’s captain in charge, she was only able to stay for a short while before receiving a call from the provincial [office].
“As I am getting a briefing, she gets a call to say you must stop that briefing and you must not allow her in the premises; that’s an instruction from the province.”
In Boitekong, Letlape discovered that the station only has one police vehicle to respond to complaints.
She also learnt that the police station does not have a gate, cameras, or security officers. It also did not have female holding cells.
Letlape reported the treatment to the police and was told that the station commander in question had been reprimanded.
North West police spokesperson, Colonel Adele Myburgh, said safety is of paramount importance when any person visits a police station.
Rule applies to any person
“The visitor must identify himself/herself first with proper identification and indicate the purpose of the visit to the highest ranking official,” said Myburgh.
“This rule applies to any person, including high-ranking police officers that visit any police station.”
She said Letlape was verbally cautioned with the aim of correcting the behaviour to ensure that incidents of the similar nature do not occur in the future.
Myburgh said due to safety reasons, the exact number of vehicles at Boitekong police station cannot be communicated in the media.
She said the gate and cameras will be installed.
“For the current financial year, three new vehicles were procured and delivered. The repair of the gate is in the process,” she said.
“The installation of CCTV cameras was prioritised for the 2023/2024 financial year. Cameras were already installed at the detective offices, and the provision of CCTV cameras at the station is in the process.”
