Kwa Police Station still in dire state

MOSSEL BAY NEWS - KwaNonqaba Police Station management and staff are still waiting for a new station, despite their dire work conditions, which they have endured for several years.

The station serves the most densely populated community and the largest geographical area of all police stations in the greater Mossel Bay area.

The jurisdiction of the station includes KwaNonqaba and Dana Bay as well as the rural areas from Herbertsdale to Vleesbaai.

Three brick buildings house the administration and detective offices, the community services centre, the station commander's office and the archives office.

The rest of the offices are prefabricated structures, which house three to six people per office, according to KwaNonqaba Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairman, Shadrack Shishana.

These offices are separated with steel filing cabinets and boxes and between some, there are no partitions at all.

Dilapidated
Ward 11 municipal councillor, Nickey le Roux, said it was not only the building that was dilapidated, but the entire property. She called the working conditions "dire".

The KwaNonqaba Police Station car port. Photos: Chelsea Pieterse

The victim-friendly room, in which complainants, especially in domestic violence cases, are assisted, was donated by the CPF. It is a small, wooden Wendy house/Zozo hut.

Steel shipping containers on the premises are used to store cleaning supplies and also case evidence.
The station's carport comprises a rusting corrugated iron roof on wooden poles. Only four vehicles fit under it.

There are no holding cells and Shishana said that whenever someone is arrested in the KwaNonqaba area, the officers need to take them to Mossel Bay or Da Gamaskop police stations and if both these stations' holding cells are full, all the way to the holding cells at Albertinia Police Station, 50km from Mossel Bay.

The arresting officer is forced to leave his duties while admitting the suspect at another police station.

Rats
Shishana said this week the station currently had a rat problem, which Mossel Bay Advertiser reported on in 2019. He said the rats occasionally bite internet cables and the station is offline until they are repaired. He said the station is fumigated once every two months.

The victim-friendly room.

Le Roux said: "The ward 11 community has an excellent relationship with the KwaNonqaba Police and residents have been understanding of the dire situation under which they work. It is not a uniquely Mossel Bay problem but it is a pity none of the relevant authorities have made in-roads in building a proper station."

In 2019, the Advertiser reported that Mossel Bay Municipality had earmarked land for a new KwaNonqaba Police Station. The municipality told the Advertiser this week the site is south-west of the current police station. The proposed new spot is in Adriaans Avenue, directly adjacent to the KwaNonqaba Mall.

New station
When asked how long ago the municipality made the land available for the new station, it said: "An exact timeline cannot be confirmed, however, the availability of the site for a police station was confirmed regularly on separate occasions over several years."

It said the national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI), in consultation with the police head office, was responsible for purchasing the land.

KwaNonqaba Community Policing Forum (CPF) chairman, Shadrack Shishana at the police station.

Le Roux said the mayor recently wrote to DPWI minister Dean Macpherson to propose a trade of land so that the building of the new police station could be considerably more affordable. She noted that no concrete response to the proposal had been received yet.

DPWI spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said, in response to the Advertiser, that it had no request nor funding for the new police station allocated by the national police department.

He directed the Advertiser to the national police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe.
Mathe said the police's Supply Chain Management department was ''not in possession of the Mossel Bay Municipal Council resolution for the available land and therefore could not confirm the period for its availability to build the new KwaNonqaba Police Station.

'Process under way'
"However, the process for the construction of the police station is under way as the project is prioritised for 2025/26."

Steel shipping containers are used for general storage and storing evidence.

Both the national police head office and the DPWI were sent queries regarding the state of the current station and the staff's working conditions but the Advertiser had not received a response at the time of publishing.

KwaNonqaba Police Station spokesperson Warrant Officer Kappie Kapp said he could not comment on the matter and asked for enquiries to be directed to the national police.

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