RAVENSMEAD / BELHAR
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Woensdag 15 Februarie 2012
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) Belhar too small, no resources
New cop shop wanted
Maureen Dirks, trauma room co ordinator, and CPF chairman Pat America, point out the window that was broken to gain entry to the centre. Photo: Gary van Dyk GARY VAN DYK
Belhar wants a better police station! The local Community Police Forum (CPF) are calling the authorities to book after the Victim Support Centre at the station was broken into for the third time in recent months. Pat America, chairman of the CPF, is angry that nothing is being done about improving the situation at the station even though they have been complaining about it for many years. “We are angry that the community is trying to destroy a facility like this that is here to help them, but
the bigger problem is that this is not a properly equipped police station, and it can’t serve the community properly in its present state,” he said. “The volunteers who help at the trauma room and victim support centre are trying their best but you just have to look at this structure to see that it is not suitable for what we are trying to achieve. “For the past few years the local community who use the police station have also been complaining because it has just become simply too small.” America pointed out that the request for a newly constructed police station for Belhar, one which is well equipped and resourced, is not a
new one and dates back to the 1970s when Belhar was without a police station. Since the establishment of Belhar in the 1960s it has had to do without the services of a police station and services had to be handled by various other police stations even after a satellite station was created, first under Elsies River, then Ravensmead, later under Bellville South and until 2007 under Delft. “Belhar underwent a population explosion since the 1980s with more houses being built, new roads being constructed and linked to Belhar’s main roads as a thoroughfare from Delft, Kuils River, Stellenbosch and other surrounding areas. “This compounded the problems
the community was experiencing especially at the level of crime. “It is really not surprising that during the 1990s Belhar was labeled as the ‘crime capital’ of the Western Cape. “Since 2000 and in addition to more homes being built, new businesses were established such as the Cavalier Centre in Modderdam Road and more recently the Airport Centre on the Stellenbosch Arterial Road. “This has brought with it more pressure on the police services in Belhar and an increase in crime. Presently only two and sometimes three police vans are deployed in the area. “Several neighbourhood watches
have been established to help address the issue of crime but due to their nature, their effectiveness has been limited though some of them have been very successful in bringing down crime. “A number of meetings with senior officials from the police department including MECs and ward councillors took place over the years, but nothing has happened to improve the situation,” said America. America pointed out that all they had got was promises because in 2004 SAPS undertook an evaluation of the service delivery at Belhar and Delft police stations while Belhar still resorted under Delft. . To page 2.