The once peaceful small rural town of Wolsely is now a playground for criminals.

The population of the area has grown significantly and the police station only has five officers on duty according to the station commander Captain DC Farao.

Residents say the station only has two officers per shift that they see and that when they attend to a complaint, they have to close the station until they return.

The challenges started in 2016 during the farmworkers’ strike.

More people from areas like Citrusdal, De Doorns and neighbouring countries Lesotho and Zimbabwe settled in the area with the hope of securing employment.

Shootings and sexual assault are major problems in Wolseley and Pine Valley informal settlements.

“What we can say is that the SAPS and the municipal law enforcement have no control,” said resident Henry Kennedy.

“The SAPS station in Wolseley is only a captain station and some night it happens where there is only one or two members on duty.

“One night there was only one constable on duty.

“Some nights only one female constable was in the station.”

He said municipal law enforcement officers were not active after hours so they did not help much.

Last month, the area was left reeling in shock following a bloody weekend that left five people dead.

In February, serial killer Siyamcela Sombambela was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing three women in the Pine Valley informal settlement in October 2020.

Land occupations in Pine Valley have led to population growth from around 6 000 people to more than 11 000.

This means the police ratio is one officer per 1 200 people.

Wolseley cannot get more officers as it is a captain station.

Another resident Patrick Daniels said another challenge faced by the station was the fact that vacancies were not filled permanently.

“So he constantly has to work with borrowed staff.

“Too many disciplinary cases against especially Vispol officers.

“And the fact that over weekends police officers are a scarcity.”

The station commander admitted that crime definitely increased and that human power was not sufficient to deal with the growing population at this stage.

MEC of Community Safety and Police Oversight Reagen Allen said they have been receiving reports from community members in rural parts of the province about how criminals are entering their areas with the hope of establishing illicit activities there.

“We maintain that the continued chronic SAPS under-resourcing requires urgent attention and we’ve made this clear to the National Minister of Police.

“Regrettably, this is being ignored and this is part of the reason why SAPS should be devolved to a capable government such as ours. Our aim is to professionalise SAPS while ensuring they are fully capacitated and resourced.”

He said the province will use municipal law enforcement officers and neighbourhood watches to try to tackle crime in the rural areas.

On the other hand, police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said there are plans under way to augment human resource capacity at Wolseley SAPS after the station recently lost some members.

“The claim that only two constables are available at the station for the night shift, is inaccurate and misleading.

“Deployments are monitored constantly from the district commissioner’s office hence in the event of a need occurring additional deployments from other units are availed.”

As far as the upgrade of the police station from a captain level to another level so that more resources can be deployed – she said there is a work-study process that must be undertaken by the SAPS’ organisational development component to determine whether such an upgrade is necessary.

“The process looks into the following areas amongst others: crime levels of the precinct, population growth, current staff complement as well as planned future development.

“The station does from time to time utilise other force multipliers during integrated operations in efforts to fight crime in the area.”

Weekend Argus