Pretoria - Civic organisation Action Society has condemned the situation whereby Rietgat police station in Soshanguve had to fall back on using generators for three years after its power cable was stolen.
On Tuesday, the Pretoria News reported that some police officers, who spoke anonymously, said available generators were used for switching on the lights at night.
The generators, they claimed, would sometimes run out of petrol in the middle of the night, leaving them in the lurch.
They expressed frustration that they were unable to even charge their phones or boil water for making tea or coffee, especially during the day.
Yesterday, Action Society called on Police Minister Bheki Cele to assist in having electricity restored at the station.
The station, which is located near the Mabopane train station, relied on electricity from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA.
Three years ago it fell victim to vandalism, which also affected the train station when a power cable was stolen.
While power at the railway station was eventually restored, the police station’s power outage was still unresolved.
The organisation’s Gauteng action centre co-ordinator, Tshepi Mmekwa, said it was unacceptable for police stations to be without power because “it is unsafe for victims and the people that work there”.
“If the government cannot provide the essential tools for the police to do their work, it should not be surprised when communities like Graskop in Mpumalanga fire the police,” she said.
Mmekwa described the conditions under which the police were forced to work at the station as “ridiculous”.
Police spokesperson Steven Maluleka said the station had two generators and disputed claims that they constantly ran out of petrol, leaving their colleagues doing night shifts in the dark.
According to him, there had been one instance when the generators ran out of petrol.
Residents have expressed concern and said they were afraid to report crime at night because they felt unsafe, but Maluleka said the station frequently kept communities informed about unforeseen situations.
He told the Pretoria News that plans were afoot to sort out the problem and that generators would only be there as a back-up in the event of load shedding.
Mmekwa said: “A police station should be where people feel safe after a tragedy and officers have the tools to do their work.”
Pretoria News