Major South African city’s police station has only three police vehicles

The city of Kempton Park’s police station has just three police vehicles to cover its six policing sectors, despite having an optimal requirement of twelve vehicles.

Kempton Park is situated in the East Rand region of Gauteng, and falls under the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, which it has been a part of since 2000.

The city’s population was recorded as 171,575 in the 2011 national census, with estimates suggesting it has nearly doubled to around 322,194 today.

Kempton Park was established in 1903 by Karl Friedrich Wolff after he subdivided a portion of his Zuurfontein farm into 216 residential stands.

Wolff named the new town Kempten after the German town in Bavaria where he was born, and the name was later anglicised to Kempton Park.

The city is home to OR Tambo International Airport, the largest airport in South Africa and the second-busiest on the African continent, with an annual passenger capacity of 28 million.

The airport was constructed in 1952 on land adjacent to the growing town and opened in 1953 as Jan Smuts International Airport.

The airport’s name was changed in the late 1990s to Johannesburg International Airport, and again in 2006 to OR Tambo International Airport.

Kempton Park was declared a city in 1992, with the airport playing a large role in its local economy. South African Airways has its headquarters in Kempton Park.

The Emperor’s Palace Casino is also located in Kempton Park just south of the airport, while the Rhodesfield Gautrain Station can be found in the suburb of Rhodesfield.

The Kempton Park Golf Course in the Spartan neighbourhood, designed in 1965, is well-known as the club where professional golfer Ernie Els learned to play.

The city is also well known as the location of the storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre on 25 June 1993, as it was the venue for the CODESA negotiations to end apartheid.

Three police vehicles for the whole city

Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature Michael Waters said that the city of Kempton Park currently has three working police vehicles.

This was revealed to him by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi in a written response to questions posed in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.

These three vehicles are meant to serve the city’s six policing sectors, despite the city’s optimal requirement of two vehicles per sector, for a total of 12.

Waters said the shortage of vehicles was leaving residents vulnerable to crime and could potentially delay emergency responses to serious criminal incidents.

“This station manages approximately 40 reports per 12-hour shift, totalling roughly 80 incidents every day, yet there is no timeline for delivering additional vehicles,” Waters said.

“The station has 25% of the vehicles it needs to maintain effective visible policing, despite growing crime concerns and the discovery of multiple women’s dead bodies in and around Kempton Park.”

Between July and September, the bodies of at least 12 women were discovered across Ekurhuleni, with a high concentration centred around Kempton Park and nearby Tembisa.

Waters said the vehicle deficit had remained unchanged since an oversight inspection conducted at the Kempton Park police station 12 months ago.

He said he would write to the Premier to urgently engage the acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, to develop a time-bound plan for the deployment of additional vehicles.

Additionally, he said he would table further questions on why the shortage persisted, how it affected police response times, and when additional vehicles will be provided.

Waters also called on the Premier to account for emergency patrol resources deployed since the suspected serial murders first came to light.

“Assigning only three vehicles to police six sectors, instead of 12, is an indefensible failure of SAPS leadership and a blatant disregard for Kempton Park residents’ safety,” Waters said.

“SAPS must stop making excuses and urgently provide the necessary vehicles to ensure safety and restore visible policing.”