Lwandle community leaders are appealing to government to build a fully-fledged police station, stating that the population of the community far exceeds the capacity of the current satellite station.
The call follows the mass shooting of patrons at KwaNdelu Shisa Nyama in Lwandle last month, in which 11 people died — 10 at the scene and another in hospital — while a further 10 were injured in the shooting spree.
Lwandle leaders demand fully-fledged police station
Community leader Xolani Sotashe said it was high time government considered constructing a proper police station in the area. He said residents had been calling for a police station for over 25 years.
“The current satellite police station, which we used to call the White House, is where officers used to detain us during the apartheid era. Lwandle was for immigrant labourers. Our fathers used to work here, and when we came to see them, we needed to stay for only seven days. If you stayed beyond that, the officers would arrest you and keep you at the White House, which is currently a satellite police station,” explained Sotashe, adding that it was converted into a police station shortly after the 1994 elections.
He stressed that the station did not have the capacity to police the whole area.
Sotashe said Lwandle and Nomzamo had developed into densely populated residential areas with more people moving in.
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We need to reclaim our streets
“Crime is becoming a concern. We need to go back to the basics. We used to have street committees, block committees and area committees. Before we called public meetings, we used to inform the street committees. We need to ensure we reclaim our streets from criminals,” he stated.
Sotashe said that, according to information received from police management, there were 99 officers at the station, with only eight officers per shift and two police vehicles. He alleged that some officers were working with criminals.
Councillor echoes call for more resources
Ward 86 councillor Xolani Diniso reiterated Sotashe’s call for the construction of a fully-fledged police station, adding that a new station could change Lwandle as a whole. He claimed that there were more criminals than officers at the station.
“We need to squeeze the space for criminals in our society. We need government to deploy more boots on the ground. We need officers who are dedicated to doing their jobs. I believe that if we had enough officers with enough resources, the mass shooting would have been avoided because there would have been more police visibility,” he said.
Diniso said Lwandle was becoming increasingly problematic as the crime rate escalated. “Lwandle is still developing and I think that has an impact on the escalation of crime in the area because there are more people coming in. Looking at the last decade, the population is growing very fast because people are renting houses, and it is still going to grow,” said Diniso.
Police say Lwandle station is fully-fledged despite park-home premises
National police spokesperson Col Amanda van Wyk said they received an “unsolicited proposal” in 2022 for the construction of a police station. However, she said the service provider was referred to the National Department of Public Works and Infrastructure for further assistance.
“Lwandle police station is a fully-fledged police station graded at Category B (a medium-sized station whose classification and resource allocation are determined by its unique crime profile, workload, population size, and geographical factors). “Lwandle is capacitated at over 80%. The exact number of officers working at the station cannot be disclosed for fear of compromising the safety of the members,” she stated.
Brick-and-mortar station dependent on Public Works
Van Wyk said that, ideally, like other police stations, it was envisaged that Lwandle would in future operate from a brick-and-mortar facility. However, she said that was dependent on other variables such as other departments and spheres of government. “Every endeavour is made to expedite the process of acquiring a proper station for Lwandle,” she said.
She added that any review of the station’s current grading was supported by a comprehensive Work Study investigation, which determined whether the existing grading remained aligned with the station’s operational demands, workload profile and organisational requirements. This is conducted on an annual basis.
Provincial reinforcements and joint operations deployed
“In terms of enhancing policing, provincial police management has reinforced deployments in the area in line with crime pattern analysis, utilising provincial units and existing operations such as Prosper, Shanela and Lockdown,” she stated.
Van Wyk said other law enforcement agencies complemented officer deployments and the police drone unit was on hand to enhance policing efforts in the area.
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