Cape Town - The police in the province have suspended the payment for escort/guard duties and have undertaken a process to clarify what it said were ambiguities identified surrounding this service.
This after it emerged that the Nyanga and Samora Machel police stations were charging people for escort/ guard services.
A notice that has been widely shared on social media has provoked the ire of residents. The note informed residents escort services by the police within the Samora Machel precinct would now cost R75.
This despite other police stations conducting such services at no charge.
Regarding the note, Samora Machel community policing forum (CPF) chairperson Bongani Maqungwana said reports they had received were that the person who had compiled the notice had done so without the knowledge or instruction of the management of the police station.
Maqungwana said an investigation had been launched into the matter.
He said the CPF would not support the payment for a service that people should receive from the police free of charge.
Maqungwana said the service was mostly requested by delivery trucks owing to the high rate of hijacking in the area and that the service was offered at no charge.
“It is a precautionary mechanism so that they can render their services safely, which happens almost on a daily basis.
“Ambulances do the same when called in the area and the service is free,” he said.
Cases of robbery with aggravated circumstances reported at the Samora Machel police station in the latest crime statistics between October and December last year increased by 33.8%.
The number of cases increased from 77 to 104, compared to the same period in 2021.
Carjackings increased by 112.5%, from 16 to 34 cases.
Police spokesperson Novela Potelwa said while payment for extra-departmental duties was a police head office directive to provinces, she said the provincial management had noted how certain aspects of the directive were applied inconsistently by police stations.
She said this was due to different interpretations, resulting in some individuals paying for escort/guard duties that others did not pay for.
“A management decision was henceforth taken to suspend payment for escort/guard duties as specified in the SAPS extra-departmental duties directive in the Western Cape while a process is undertaken to clear ambiguities identified,” she said.
Novela said “private citizens” and/ or companies who required escort/ guard duty services from police stations in the province must realise that priority would always be given to the core business of the police.
mthuthuzeli.ntseku@inl.co.za