SOMERSET WEST – An oversight visit to Lwandle Police Station has laid bare the severity of a policing crisis that residents of the area have long been living with – and the numbers are stark.
The visit, conducted on Tuesday 2 June by DA Western Cape spokesperson on Police Oversight and Community Safety, Benedicta van Minnen MPP, found that the station has just 17 detectives, each carrying an average caseload of 141 cases. The officer-to-resident ratio for the precinct stands at approximately 1 to 926, a figure described as alarming in a community that regularly contends with murder, robbery, drug-related offences and gender-based violence.
Station management reported five murders in the weekend alone preceding the visit.
“Every day, communities across the Western Cape experience the direct consequences of police under-resourcing,” said Van Minnen. “When police stations are not adequately staffed, equipped, or properly built, the impact is slower response times, weaker investigations, reduced visibility on the ground and ultimately greater vulnerability for residents.”
Van Minnen said the findings confirm what has long been evident on the ground: that policing outcomes are directly tied to resourcing. Where detective caseloads are unmanageable and basic infrastructure is lacking, communities bear the consequences through increased exposure to crime and diminished trust in law enforcement.
“Residents deserve a police station that is fit for purpose,” she added. “They deserve adequate police visibility, faster response times, effective investigations and facilities that uphold the dignity of both officers and the public.”
The DA is calling on the police and the national government to urgently upgrade Lwandle to a full Colonel station and to allocate additional personnel and vehicles to address the resource shortfall.
“The people of Lwandle have waited long enough,” Van Minnen said. “We cannot win the fight against crime while police officers are expected to do more with less. Urgent action is required to ensure that policing resources match the realities on the ground.”
