Community left disappointed with Dawn Park SAPS’ abscence
The Dawn Park community held a general meeting, on September 26, where it was expected that the new station commander, Johannes Makhubo, would address the issue of crime in the area of Extension Seven.
However, the community waited two hours for the Dawn Park SAPS to arrive to address them, to no avail.
The fuming community members were hoping they would find a way forward to working with the police to fight crime.
During the meeting, PR ward councillor Lebo Makhathini went to the police station to try to get confirmation if the SAPS was still coming.
According to Makhathini, she was informed that the police officer who was supposed to have come had a problem with transport.
She was also told that the police officer thought the meeting was scheduled for September 25, allegedly after learning about the date on a WhatsApp group.
The Advertiser sought comment from the Dawn Park SAPS on the matter, and the station’s
spokesperson, Const Nkemeleng Mabula, said the station’s management will investigate the allegations and deal decisively with whoever is in the wrong.
She said that transport, as alleged in this regard, cannot be used as an excuse not to reach out to the community.
“We commit ourselves to create and maintain working relationships with the CPF and other crime-fighting agencies in the fight against crime,” she explained.
“We apologise to the community for any inconvenience which might have occurred on the day in question.”
Issues raised included a request for the station commander to provide the community with crime statistics for the area of Dawn Park from last year to this year.
The community also wanted to know what the top five law enforcement priorities are, as seen by their local police.
According to the community members, the previous station commander had said the police station has limited capacity, so they wanted to find out what the new station commander has done to resolve the matter.
They also wanted to find out how the community can get involved in assisting the police.
Residents then questioned whether the burglary and theft cases they report to the station are being followed up.
Lastly, the community requested that the Dawn Park police stop abusing state vehicles by using them for non-work-related trips.
These questions are now scheduled to be answered by the station commander at a general meeting, on October 5.
