Note to editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by George Michalakis MP.
Residents served by Bloemspruit SAPS have to wait on average longer than 66 minutes for a response from the police to a category Alpha complaint of which the crime is imminent and “all serious crime requiring immediate police action”.
This is according to a written response to a question by the Democratic Alliance (DA) to Police Minister, Bheki Cele.
Other Free State stations where response time for category Alpha complaints is longer than 30 minutes, include Mangaung District (37’16”), Park Road (39’38”), Kagisanong (54’21”), Mangaung (30’09”), Welkom (31’10”) Tseseng 36’06”, and Kopanong (36’59”).
In a small town like Theunissen, it will take the police 26 minutes and 41 seconds on average to respond to such an emergency, in Heidedal 29’19”, Wesselsbron 21’25”, Hertzogville 26’28”, Tierpoort 29’59”, Glen 20’28”, and in Soutpan it will take them all of 24 minutes and 27 seconds to respond.
This is a clear, practical example of how the lack of police resources such as visible policing and vehicles affects the safety of the public. In a life-threatening emergency, no one has the luxury to wait for the police to eventually react.
A DA-led Free State government will play a more active role in holding the SAPS accountable, as we do in the Western Cape, where provincial-supported LEAP Officers conducted 492 460 operations in 2022/23 to keep communities safe, 95.5% of which were conducted autonomously of the SAPS and other law enforcement agencies.
Keeping communities safe is a core constitutional function of the police and an integral part of the social contract between the government and its citizens. In the absence of this protection, citizens and communities are forced to protect themselves, their families and property from harm.
The DA will submit further questions to the Minister, to request an explanation of how the SAPS plans to fulfil this function without resources whilst protection for high-profile ANC politicians is still being prioritised.