Residents from Belhar welcomed the news that the City of Cape Town signed over a piece of land to the national government for the construction of a new police station.
Belhar is one of Cape Town’s most dangerous areas with gangsterism and drug abuse rife and the community struggled for years with an under resourced police station.
Ismael Arnold, spokesperson for the local Community Policing Forum (CPF), says the broader community of Belhar welcomes the prospect of a bigger and better police station, as the current Belhar Police Station is a small building and not adequate enough to handle all incidents efficiently as crimes such as shootings and robbing of students are on the increase.
Station understaffed
“Having said that, just because we will have a bigger building, it does not mean that all our issues will magically be sorted out.
“We still need to address the issue of the Belhar police being understaffed and having a lack of working vehicles to respond to various complaints.
“The CPF feels that while a bigger precinct will make the day to day operation of the police more efficient, the Belhar Police Station is going to need more support than just a new building. Both the current and new proposed site for the police station is not central enough for residents as Belhar is a large area.
“The commute for Old Belhar residents is therefore much longer.
“There was not much thought put into considering a central location for the police station to accommodate all residents of Belhar. We have numerous open plots that are more central and can be used which would have been more feasible,” says Arnold.
Arnold says a question that should be raised is if a new station will make a difference.
“We agree that a new and bigger police station is needed, however we also feel there is much more needed within the police to better serve the community,” he says.
The provincial minister of police oversight and community safety, Reagen Allen, announced the City of Cape Town Mayco’s approval to transfer a piece of land to national government for the construction of a new police station in Belhar. “Although the matter must now serve before a full council for final approval, this clearly demonstrates how both the City and provincial governments are working to strengthen the hand of the police across the Western Cape. This is truly commendable.
“Belhar, like so many other areas, are in desperate need of another station, as it is an area that is renowned for gang violence and it is also on the top 30 murder stations in the province. Worse still, is that it currently has a police to population ratio of one officer for every 1 016 residents,” says Allen.
