Police Commissioner’s plan to rescue Honeydew Police Station
On 16 March, Mawela made his first stop at Honeydew Police Station, which is battling with a lack of resources, among many other problems plaguing it.
The South African Police Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Elias Mawela, is on a mission to rescue 40 police stations contributing immensely to the crime statistics in the province.
On 16 March, Mawela made his first stop at Honeydew Police Station, a station battling with a lack of resources, among the many other problems plaguing it.
Mawela met with the commander of the station, Brigadier Anesh Maharaj, the management and various stakeholders (CPF and security industry) at Rand Park Primary School to address issues pertaining to crime at the station.
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The latest crime statistics see Honeydew Police Station sitting at number two on the provincial list, and number four nationally – making it one of the worst contributors to crime in the province, after the Johannesburg Central Police Station which takes the first spot.
However, Mawela’s mandate is to address the scourge. “This is one of the programmes I’m embarking on. We’ve identified 40 police stations which are contributing a lot of crime to the province. I wouldn’t be able to address crime in Gauteng if I didn’t deal with the 40 problematic police stations,” he said.
He said the aim of the visit was to share their vision, mobilise all the available resources and encourage the community to work together with law enforcement.
“If we want change, this is one of the areas we need to focus on,” said Mawela.
The station’s coverage area is made up of four sectors. Sector 4, which covers Zandspruit and Cosmo City, is the highest contributor to the crime statistics, according to the Honeydew CPF Cluster chairperson, Obert Mlauzi.
Mawela clarified the speculation that Cosmo City will soon have its own police station to help Honeydew out. “I’m told that there is a place identified where temporary structures will be put up, with the target date being before 1 July. Operations will begin then, because people have been crying out for services there,” he explained.
Stakeholders raised concerns about the possibility of Honeydew Police Station losing manpower and resources to operate the new station in Cosmo City. However, Mawela also clarified this concern. “We have to ‘steal’ resources somewhere else to get the new station running, but we won’t be taking anything from Honeydew, because as it is, the station is struggling,” he explained.
Lastly, Mawela encouraged the community to assist the station commander by reporting corrupt officers. “You are the eyes and ears of the community,” he said. “Let’s report corrupt officers to him because we cannot have law enforcement colluding with criminals. We want those officers to be removed from our payroll,” he urged, also indicating that he will deal with the commander if he does not act decisively against implicated officers when sufficient evidence is provided.
