Calls grow for Parklands police station to reopen after body discovery - IOL
MP’s is calling for the reopening of the Parklands Satellite Police Station.
Calls for the reopening of the Parklands Satellite Police Station have intensified following a spate of incidents and the discovery of a badly-decomposed body in the area on Friday.
Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Nicholas Gotsell said that Friday’s shocking find again highlights the policing challenges facing the rapidly growing area.
“The police’s continued underfunding and poor resource allocation to Table View and Parklands can no longer be ignored," he said.
“This incident once again underscores the serious safety challenges in an area whose population has grown tremendously over the past two decades.”
Table View Police Station currently services Parklands following the closure of the Parklands Satellite Police Station roughly three years ago.
Gotsell said previous parliamentary oversight visits had highlighted shortages of personnel, vehicles and detective and visible policing capacity at Table View SAPS.
“The acting national commissioner himself, in response to this, acknowledged that population and infrastructure growth is placing additional pressure on Table View SAPS’ policing capacity, and that the station was previously only 78% staffed,” he said.
“Yet the Parklands satellite station remains closed to the public. SAPS cannot continue to expect a policing model that has not kept pace with the tremendous growth of the area to be sufficient.”
The DA launched a petition in April calling for the reopening of the satellite station, which has received more than 3 000 signatures.
The party has argued that the station’s reopening would provide Parklands residents with a dedicated police presence and improve response times and visibility.
DA MP Nicholas Gotsell outside the Parklands Satellite Police Station.
ActionSA MP Dereleen James also raised concerns over resources at Table View SAPS after visiting the station last month.
James said she was told the station had only two vehicles available to respond to incidents, instead of six.
She also claimed that police members had been moved from the station to Protection and Security Services.
Gotsell said a meeting with relevant stakeholders would take place on Thursday.
He added: “The DA is demanding better resources for Table View SAPS, more visible policing and the reopening of the Parklands satellite station for the community.”
“As the constituency head for the area, I am personally appealing to the Western Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sizakhele Dyanti, to attend this meeting on Thursday, and I will write to him about this.”
