Boost for law enforcement in Western Cape

Writer De Waal Steyn

While the public meetings by the Western Cape Police Ombudsman got off to a slow start in the Overstrand with fewer than 15 people attending the first meeting in Kleinmond, the office of the Ombudsman has indicated that more than 200 submissions were received via email and post in the weeks preceding the public meeting.

In addition to the formal investigation by Ombudsman, Johan Brand, to determine if police stations in the Overstrand are adequately staffed and resourced to carry out their duties

efficiently and effectively it was announced last week that an additional 1 000 officers will soon be deployed to police stations in the province.

This follows a meeting between Western Cape Community Safety MEC, Albert Fritz and National Police Minister, Bheki Cele to address policing needs and priorities in the province.

In April this year Western Cape Premier Alan Winde declared a formal intergovernmental dispute with Cele over the shortage of some 4 500 police officers in the province. Winde,

at-the-time MEC of Community Safety, said the province urgently needs more police officers as the province was “dramatically under-resourced compared to other provinces'.'

At the time, Winde said that the ANC government had given the DA-led province fewer resources to fight crime, compared to other provinces. He said, while one officer must protect 375 people on average nationally, the Western Cape ratio was 1:509.

Fritz, who succeeded Winde, said last Tuesday's meeting with the minister had been "conducted in a cordial spirit of collaboration and co-operation", with both agreeing that "building safer communities requires immediate and priority attention".

Cele expressed his willingness to engage further on the proposals made by the Western Cape Government to alleviate the work of police and in particular the funding which was made available by the Western Cape Government in the amount of R5 million.