Durban — The Mariannhill Community Policing Forum (CPF) welcomes the proposed building of a new police station.
Neville Skeef, a CPF spokesperson, said the current police station on Milky Way Road services a wide area that covers six wards and operates out of park homes (temporary structures), making the working conditions of the police difficult and causing congestion for members of the public.
Milky Way Road leads to sprawling suburbs like Mariannridge, Dassenhoek and KwaNdengezi.
Skeef added that the new station would help ease the burden of the police to fight the spate of violent crime and rampant murders in the area.
“The negotiations for the building of a new police station have been ongoing for a long time now. The need for upgrading the current Mariannhill police station has been another challenge faced by the communities we serve, as well as more manpower to help in the fight against crime,” Skeef said.
He also said there was a shortage of human resources, such as the drivers, to operate the three police vehicles that were provided to the Mariannhill station.
eThekwini Municipality mayor Mxolisi Kaunda said the council had approved the allocation of land to the Department of Public Works for the construction.
“Having this police station is going to enhance the good work of our law enforcement agencies in fighting crime,” Kaunda added.
eThekwini ward 13 councillor Reginald Cloete said unless more police officers are deployed to fight crime in Mariannhill, the building of the new police station will not help in the fight against the rampant crime in the area.
“Mariannhill SAPS covers a vast area to be serviced by only one police station. We also appeal for a higher police-ranked station so that more manpower and resources will be allocated,” Cloete stressed.
In previous police statements, police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda said in one incident, suspects stormed two vehicle workshops and shot dead five people.
This incident follows mass shootings that shocked the community, where 14 people were killed in one weekend in two separate incidents last year.
In February alone, five people were shot and killed in two separate incidents in the area.
Mariannhill police station commander Colonel Muzi Thwala lauded the councillors and other community leaders for their support in their crime prevention initiatives in the area.
“The new police station will go a long way to making the work of our teams more efficient and more accessible to the communities we serve,” Thwala said.
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