Public hearings on SAPS resourcing

The Western Cape Provincial Parliament’s Standing Committee on Community Safety will conduct a series of public hearings focusing on the effects of vacancies and manpower shortages on the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Western Cape. These public hearings will be conducted in accordance with the national and provincial constitutions as well as the Western Cape Witnesses Act, Act 2 of 2006. The purpose of the hearings is to better understand the extent of the SAPS’s resource challenges and the impact that the lack of police resources may have on communities.

“Safety is a primary concern for every inhabitant of the Western Cape and South Africa as it underpins almost everything that we do. Every effort must be made to ensure that police officers are visible and that quality investigations are conducted so that we can be safe in our homes and our communities,” says the chairperson of the Standing Committee on Community Safety, Mireille Wenger.

“The Standing Committee has noted with concern the number of South African Police Service (SAPS) vacancies and manpower shortages in the Western Cape.  This has been evidenced through standing committee oversight visits to police stations, through parliamentary questions and through complaints from the general public raised in Parliament and through the media. The standing committee therefore resolved, on 25 November 2015, to host public hearings to understand police resourcing challenges in the Western Cape and to address the impact that the lack of police resources may have on communities”, she explains.

The public hearings are arranged as follows:

• 4 October: School Hall, Trafalgar High School, Birchington Road, Cape Town: 09:00 to 13:00
• 4 October: School Hall, Hexpark Primary School, Westminster Street, Worcester: 17:00 to 19:00
• 5 October: Banquet Hall, George Municipality, 71 York Street, George: 17:00 to 19:00

For more information and to indicate that you would like to comment at any of the public hearings or submit a comment in writing, contact the Committee Co-ordinator, Waseem Matthews, Tel 021 487 1741 or Email wmatthews@wcpp.gov.za.