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This week, Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde, and the provincial Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, embarked on various safety initiatives in the Stellenbosch area. This forms part of the Western Cape Government’s (WCG’s) Safety Plan, which aims to reduce by 50% by 2029.

The initiatives included oversight visits to the Stellenbosch, Kayamandi, and Cloetesville South African Police Service (SAPS) stations. The Kayamandi station was recently severely damaged when it was petrol bombed during the mini-bus taxi strike. “It appalls me that the very people tasked with protecting community members, putting their personal safety on the line, are so brazenly attacked,” the Premier told a delegation of SAPS and Stellenbosch municipality officials at the station.

Minister Reagen Allen said, “It’s encouraging to note that the refurbishment work has already commenced and should be concluded in due course. I want those who damaged this critical infrastructure to be arrested and convicted. Destroying infrastructure, particularly that which is owned by the state, is not how grievances should be expressed.”

Minister Allen continued, “Visiting Cloetesville during loadshedding was a stark reminder of the impact that the energy crisis has on essential services. The area’s police station had no power and it is those who are most in need of the SAPS’ services who cannot be adequately assisted during rolling power cuts. This is also the station with the worst police-to-population ratio in the province, currently at 1:1242. This is completely unacceptable. It is just another reminder why the devolution of policing powers to a capable provincial government, such as ours, is urgently required. The SAPS must be placed under our management. Our dedicated men and women in blue, as well as the communities they serve, deserve so much better.”

Premier Winde echoed this sentiment, adding, “Despite these challenges, I was very impressed at the dedication of the police officials whom we met with. At Stellenbosch Police Station we were told there are enough vehicles, but not enough personnel. This is unfortunately the case at most SAPS facilities in the province. We are convinced that if the Western Cape Government (WCG) was given an opportunity to take over management of the police service in the province, we would turn this situation around.”

Premier Winde and Minister Allen then engaged with motorists during a roadblock, before going on a patrol in the Cloetesville area with a number of neighbourhood watches (NHWs), Community Police Forum (CPF) members, police, and local law enforcement officers as well as private security workers.

“My sincere gratitude goes out to each and every volunteer and members of our law enforcement family that are working hard to help us make Stellenbosch - and by extension the entire Western Cape - safer for all. Their efforts are not going unnoticed,” concluded the Minister.  

Issued by Western Cape Office of the Premier