Durban Flying Squad [South African
Police Service] in shambles
KWAZULU-NATAL / 29
NOVEMBER 2015, 2:44PM / NABEELAH SHAIKH
Broken
and battered Flying Squad vehicles line the car park at Durban Central police
station.
Durban’s top police unit, the Flying Squad, is in shambles, with some
members of the squad alleging there are only two vehicles available for use on
each shift, making fighting crime a nightmare.
The vehicles are meant to service not just central Durban, but south
Durban, Hammarsdale, Winkelspruit and Ballito.
Members of the squad allege that some of the vehicles are unroadworthy
and are not being maintained. They also claim that some cop bosses are using
the vehicles to run private errands.
The situation is so bad that members of the unit say they are unable to
carry out their duties effectively and fear for their safety when responding to
emergency calls in available vehicles.
“There are 15 policemen who go on duty each shift, but there are only
two vehicles available. Does this make any sense? We come to work hoping to
catch brazen criminals and fight crime, but the unit is so under-resourced that
we cannot even do our jobs properly,” said one policeman, who could not be
named because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
“Last year we had a similar problem and it was resolved: they got new
vehicles for us, although they are still not up to standard.”
Police spokesman Major Thulani Zwane admitted there were problems within
the squad and said they would be addressed.
He could not provide details as to how many vehicles the fleet had for
“security reasons”, and he gave the same reason when refusing to divulge the
number of policemen on each shift. He could not respond to allegations
regarding vehicles being used privately because he wasn’t aware of them.
“We are looking into the problems faced by this unit (and) the matter is
being investigated. The members of the Flying Squad are currently working with
the resources that are available to them,” he said.
He could not comment on whether or not there were plans to get new
vehicles to improve the fleet next year.
Another Flying Squad member told the Sunday Tribune that there was a
fleet of more than 20 vehicles, most of which are parked in the garage at the
Durban Central station. Most of them cannot be used because they are so poorly
maintained.
“In order to chase criminals, you need to be faster than them. Our cars
need to be upgraded on a regular basis and need to be maintained and serviced.
“The unit is using Ford STs and Golf 5 GTIs. These are not good enough,
where are the Golf 7s?
“Does it make sense to chase a criminal when he’s driving a car that is
faster and (better) maintained than yours?
“Nobody cares about this unit and soon they’re going to regret it. Our
jobs are becoming difficult considering the limited resources we have, but we
are still trying our hardest to fight crime,” he said.
Sunday Tribune
