Eastern Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nomthetheli Mene, has handed over 42 vehicles to be utilised by the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Chris Hani, Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo and Joe Gqabi districts.
The vehicles were handed over during a ceremony held at Mthatha Police Academy on March 2.
The handover brought the total number of vehicles distributed to identified police station across the Eastern Cape to 100, as 52 were already handed over to police stations in the Nelson Mandela Metro, Buffalo City, Sarah Baartman, Amathole districts and the SAPS provincial office.
“The handover of the vehicles was done to ensure that SAPS members on the ground have the necessary tools of trade to enable them to discharge their duties. This is also part of our efforts to boost the resource capacity of our investigations, as well as crime prevention initiatives,” Mene said.
Mene further cautioned against the misuse of the vehicles saying those caught misusing them would face serious consequences.
“The misuse of police vehicles in the province will not be tolerated. I further urge members of the public to take photos and videos when they see misuse and report them to us so we can take decisive action,’ Mene added.
The OR Tambo District Community Police Forum (CPF) welcomed the handover of the vehicles but cautioned that more vehicles were still needed.
“Police stations are still facing a serious shortage of vehicles to an extent that police sometimes are unable to attend to reported crimes due to this shortage. It is against this reality that we welcome the handover of the vehicles, but much more are needed as the OR Tambo District is a vast district and the police vehicles are not enough,” said OR Tambo District CPF chairperson, Mhlonitshwa Bozana.
Mene said they would hand over more vehicles to identified police stations soon.
