11 May 2023
The Rietgat police station has no electricity. Photo: Keletso Mkhwanazi
Rietgat police station in Soshanguve, Tshwane, has not had electricity for three years.
According to Thami Mchunu, spokesperson for the department of public works, the police station, which is near the Mabopane train station, used electricity from the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (PRASA). But about three years ago the railway station was vandalised, and cables supplying electricity to the police station were stolen. The railway station has since been renovated, and the trains have been running since 2022, but the police station still does not have electricity.
Mchunu said after meetings with the SA Police Service it was decided that SAPS should apply to the City of Tshwane. “The application has been made and is currently in process.”
SAPS spokesperson Colonel Dimakakatso Sello said police management in Gauteng is aware of the electricity issue at the station and the matter “has been escalated to the relevant departments”.
“There are alternative measures put in place to ensure that service delivery is not hampered,” said Sello.
But a police officer who did not want to be named said the station had a generator but this was only used in the evening and the early morning, not during the day.
The officers at Rietgat no longer register cases, he said. Because of the absence of electricity at Rietgat, clerks are now located at Transfer (Soshanguve police station) and cases are registered there. He said police work was very difficult without electricity, as computer systems did not work and even personal cellphones could not be charged.
Tshwane municipality spokesperson Lindela Mashego confirmed that the SAPS request for an electricity connection was being processed.