says Retief Odendaal, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Nelson Mandela Bay. (Photo: Provided)
Nelson Mandela Bay’s metro police are nowadays a law enforcement agency “in name only”, says Retief Odendaal, the DA’s mayoral candidate in Nelson Mandela Bay.
This metropolitan police service currently has only 126 officers and four working vehicles to serve 60 wards.
A total of 18 of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro Police’s 22 vehicles are currently being repaired and are awaiting spare parts and tyres.
Odendaal undertakes to increase the number of metro police officers fourfold and add more vehicles to the metro police’s fleet should he be elected mayor in November this year.
Odendaal pointed out on Thursday that 18 metropolitan police officers are currently on duty at a time per 12-hour shift in Nelson Mandela Bay. “That’s less than one officer for every three wards per shift.”
According to Odendaal, the metro should have at least one officer available per ward per shift, which would require an additional 210 officers.
“By the end of our five-year term, we will expand this to more than 500 officers and more than 60 vehicles across the city to provide 24/7 coverage for each ward,” Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) said on Thursday.
Archive photo
Odendaal believes more metro police officers and vehicles will also enable the establishment of specialized units, including anti-protest, anti-vandalism and taxi enforcement units, plus a unit focused on cleaning up problem buildings.
“This will ensure a more professional metro police with hard-working officers who can keep communities safe.”
Odendaal believes that the training of existing security personnel in the metro’s safety and security directorate to become full-fledged metro police officers is currently the most important step in achieving his goal of more than 500 metro police officers.
“In 2018, the metro contracted 682 security guards, and those who qualify can be trained,” says Odendaal.
“It will also require minimal budget adjustments, as the salary of a security officer and an entry-level metro police officer is quite comparable.”
However, creating an efficient metropolitan police is only one of the DA’s plans to make Nelson Mandela Bay a safe city, Odendaal said on Thursday.
Among other things, the party plans to establish a CCTV network to track down and deter criminals.
The party also plans to relocate the existing CCTV joint operations center so that the South African Police Service (SAPS), metro police and private security companies can respond to crime in a timely manner.
Odendaal also plans to work with neighborhood watches should he be elected in November.
Because, the ANC/EFF-led coalition of chaos government has made it clear that residents’ safety and security is not a priority, he says.
“The DA will not allow communities to be left at the mercy of criminals while corruption and political failure weaken the institution (metropolice) that is meant to keep residents safe.”