The Communities of Eureka, Ravensmead, Uitsig and Cravenby (Ceruc) are fed up with the local police station because, according to them, the staff are not fullfilling their constitutional duty.
Ceruc, under the leadership of the local community policing forum chair, Johannes Bastian, marched to the station and handed over a memorandum with demands.
According to Bastian the memorandum addresses several pressing concerns and issues that the community has been facing. “Our collective voices, as heard and represented by Ceruc, seek resolution and improvements in various aspects of policing and community safety within the Ravensmead policing area. We want to remind the Ravensmead police of their failure to uphold the constitution. We emphasised the need for the police to fulfill their constitutional duty to protect citizens, their property, and to uphold the law. This includes ensuring the safety of school children, personnel, and church assets within our community,” says Bastian.
He says the lack of service delivery by the police includes failing to address complaints due to the lack of police vehicles. “The shortage of police vehicles has led to a failure in addressing complaints and emergencies. The police fails to respond to life-threatening emergency calls and this is of great concern. There is also a lack of police proactiveness, visibility, and presence in the community,” says Bastian.
Other things they are not happy with include unprofessional behaviour, disrespectful treatment of community members and inadequate handling of vulnerable people such as women and children. Bastian says the community doesn’t know or trust the police.
“We are also concerned about the perceived unwillingness of the station commander to collaborate with the local community and elected representatives, potentially causing division among the community,” he says.
Ceruc demanded that the police resond to their claims in seven days and engage the brouder community in 14 days.
Capt Odwa Makapula, police spokesperson from Ravensmead, confirmed that a memorandum was handed over to the police and that it will be dealt with by the district.
