Police billing shambles
15 February 2012 at
14:00pm
Craig Dodds
Political Bureau
POLICE are being evicted from police stations because the rent
hasn’t been paid, services such as water and electricity are cut off for the
same reason, and police facilities, including barracks, are in a shocking state
of disrepair, Parliament has been told.
The police top brass were appearing before the police oversight
committee to present the results of an audit of all buildings leased on behalf
of the SAPS by the Department of Public Works.
It was done after it emerged in 2010 the police had no such
record, giving rise to the “mess” in leasing.
SAPS chief operations officer Lieutenant-General Bonang Mgwenya
wished those present a happy Valentine’s Day, but she had no bouquets to offer
Public Works as she and her team sketched a complete breakdown in the
department’s delivery on its mandate to procure and maintain property on their
behalf.
“We are continuously facing challenges with leased buildings…
We… are getting evicted in some of the leased buildings. One of the reasons
will be that (Public Works) will not have paid for the rental,” Mgwenya said.
Public Works had procured 1 365 properties for the SAPS, which
admitted paying inflated prices in many cases.
Mgwenya said the police would be unaware from month to month
which rentals had been paid, and would find out there was a problem only when
the landlord arrived to lock up the property.
The deputy national commissioner for physical resources
management, Lieutenant-General Leah Mofomme, said police had been evicted from
Erasmia police station after the landlord had taken Public Works to court and
won.
MPs were outraged, and baffled by the lack of interaction
between the two departments.
“It’s a shame to say the police get evicted, very shameful, to
say the least… These are the protectors of our democracy… They get evicted for
not paying rent,” said Cope’s Leonard Ramatlakane.
The DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard said the evictions were “beyond
worry”, and that police living quarters were also “nothing more than slums”.
“Now I’m receiving reports that Public Works has decided to
upgrade a few of them and they simply tell SAPS members: ‘Go away.’ Where are
they supposed to go?”
In one Joburg barracks she had visited there had been “not a
single toilet with a door, and endless corridors that allegedly flood
regularly… It’s a death trap and not a single room had running water or a
toilet. I was ashamed that we had our members living in that place… it’s
replicated in every province we go to”.
The police officials said maintenance was the landlord’s
responsibility, but Public Works had told the police not to complain to
landlords, but to work through the department.
Mofomme confirmed that the SAPS had asked Public Works to be
allowed to take over payment of rates and electricity to avoid having services
cut for non-payment.
The police had found there were four contracts for which Public
Works had invoiced them where they did not occupy the properties.
The officials could also not assure MPs that all current leases
had been properly procured, saying Public Works did not offer this information.
“You are a law enforcement agency,” committee chairwoman Sindi
Chikunga said. “How could you not know that buildings you occupy were obtained
through a lawful process?”
Mgwenya put some of the blame for the leasing mess on the
previous management, saying none of the current team had been in top management
before the audit of 2010.
But Chikunga said
: “We’re not keen to accept that explanation because when you
leave the people that follow will be saying the same things about you.” – Additional
reporting by Sapa
