The Gauteng Provincial Legislature’s Portfolio Committee on Community Safety has formally requested urgent intervention from the Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni, following a concerning oversight visit to the Pretoria West Police Station this week, where the Committee uncovered serious infrastructure and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) challenges that are severely undermining effective policing and service delivery.
The Committee noted with grave concern that the station currently operates from three separate office buildings.
This fragmented infrastructure arrangement has a direct negative impact on command and control, coordination among units and the overall operational effectiveness of the station due to the significant distance between the buildings.
This structural challenge compromises the station’s ability to respond swiftly and cohesively to crime-related incidents in an area already facing serious criminal threats.
Equally concerning is the station’s outdated computer equipment and slow, unreliable network connectivity, which continue to hamper critical administrative functions, delay case processing, disrupt access to essential policing systems and undermine the overall efficiency of law enforcement operations.
A police station is the nerve centre of community safety and cannot be expected to effectively combat crime while operating under such unacceptable conditions.
During the oversight visit, the Committee was further alarmed by reports of escalating incidents of hijackings and kidnappings in the precinct, as well as the continued proliferation of illegal scrapyards and hijacked buildings that have become breeding grounds for criminality.
Of particular concern is the alarming revelation that a building located adjacent to the police station itself has been hijacked. This shocking reality raises serious questions about law enforcement visibility and the broader state of crime control within the precinct.
The Committee views this as wholly unacceptable and indicative of the urgent need for decisive intervention and coordinated action by all relevant law enforcement and government stakeholders.
The Committee has called on Lieutenant General Tommy Mthombeni to urgently intervene and ensure immediate remedial action to address the station’s infrastructure and ICT challenges, strengthen operational capacity and restore confidence in policing services in Pretoria West.
Communities deserve police stations that are properly resourced, functional and capable of effectively responding to crime. The current state of affairs at Pretoria West Police Station undermines public trust and weakens the fight against crime which is a serious concern to the Committee.
ISSUED BY GPL’S MEDIA SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON COMMUNITY SAFETY, HONOURABLE BANDILE MASUKU
