Simon’s Town CPF resigns over police staff shortages

A shortage of staff and resources at the Simon’s Town police station has prompted the entire executive committee of the Simon’s Town Community Police Forum (CPF) to tender their resignations.

Former CPF chairwoman Eileen Heywood said the CPF could not fulfil its mandate to ensure the effective policing of the community without adequate police staff, and her repeated requests to provincial and national management for more staff had been ignored.

The nine members formally tendered their resignations at a meeting, in the presence of Simon’s Town police station commander Captain Vishnu Pillay, on Monday December 19.

“In my seven years as chairperson, I have written numerous letters to various commanders and departments. I have attended and contributed at various Western Cape CPF grievance and problem-solving forums including Parliament as well as safety and security summits presided over by senior officials including Police Minister Bheki Cele, and, to date, I have not had a single response,” she said.

Ms Heywood said the Simon’s Town precinct, which covers Glencairn, Simon’s Town, Cape Point, Red Hill, Scarborough, and Misty Cliffs, is one of the largest in Cape Town and the station’s “staffing was simply not sufficient to service this area”.

Police were frequently unable to attend to incidents due to insufficient members on duty, which is a maximum of four officers per shift.

“When one or two officers take leave or are off sick, there are only two to three officers per shift, which is below the national police safety regulations of two officers at the station and two in the vehicle when called or on patrol,” she said.

Even if all four officers are on duty, she said, only two officers can attend to a matter and if they are attending to a robbery in Red Hill, for example, and there is a call out for another incident in Welcome Glen, the victims may have to wait up to an hour for attention.

Ms Heywood said thousands of tourists from all over the world flocked to Simon’s Town to see the penguins at Boulders Beach and to visit Cape Point.

“Their safety and security are key to the future of our tourism industry which supports our people. Our mandate is to ensure that police meet our community policing needs. The status quo has become untenable, and we cannot, as the CPF in good conscience, continue to accept this responsibility, hence our resignation,” she said.

Former CPF projects coordinator Lindy Rich said the “CPF was fighting a losing battle.”

She said the decision to resign went against the grain of the dedicated CPF members and had not been taken lightly but there came a time when you had to admit defeat.

“There are many able bodies within the Simon’s Town police station who want to make a difference, but there are also those members who have no interest,” she said.

Former deputy chairman Joe Kramer said residents of Simon’s Town had been denied their basic constitutional right of safety and security and it was their taxes that contributed to police salaries.

Captain Pillay said a new CPF would be elected once a public meeting had been held. The date has yet to be confirmed.

“My staff and I wish to thank all the members of the CPF for their efforts during the past seven years in office. Their endeavours have not gone unnoticed and we wish them well in their future,” he said.

Ms Heywood said the CPF would continue to perform its duties until the election of the new CPF.

Police Oversight and Community Safety MEC Reagen Allen said CPFs performed a vital role in maintaining community-police relations by promoting communication and cooperation between police and the community.

He said the reasons provided for the resignation of the Simon’s Town CPF were an indictment of senior SAPS management in Pretoria.

“They do not have an understanding or an appreciation for the circumstances under which police officers have to work in this province. Not a single station in the entire Western Cape exists without there being a lack of different types of resources,” he said.

The issues raised by the CPF, he said, would affect tourism, particularly at the Boulders and Cape Point areas, and hurt job creation.

CPF cluster executive member Jonathan Mills said: “When an entire CPF made up of committed and experienced community volunteers resigns all at once because they believe their local police service isn't working properly and the system in place to address those failures isn't working either, then we as fellow CPF members and even as private citizens should be looking at it very closely."

The Echo asked provincial police for the current number of officers employed at the Simon’s Town station, but provincial police spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Pojie referred us to the national office where Minister Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said, “The ministry does not have such numbers,” and referred the Echo to the provincial office.

National police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the CPF members played a crucial role and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola had directed the divisional commissioner of visible policing to urgently look into the matter and address the concerns raised by the CPF.

She said 1 100 police officers would be deployed to police stations in the Western Cape, but she could not say when that would happen.

Asked how many officers there were at Simon’s Town police station, she said: “The number of members per station is operational information that we are not at liberty to discuss in the media space as this poses risk to safety and security matters.”