Safety and infrastructure challenges affecting schools, police stations and victim support facilities were pointed out as areas of concern during a Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster Directors-General-led oversight visit in Athlone, Heideveld and Mitchells Plain on Monday.
The visit in the Western Cape conducted as part of the Directors-General Programme, included inspections of Belgravia Secondary School, Athlone Police Station, Athlone Magistrates’ Court, Thuthuzela Care Centres in Heideveld and Mitchells Plain, and a walkabout in the Marikana informal settlement.
At Belgravia Secondary School, officials were briefed on crime-related challenges linked to inadequate perimeter fencing and the school’s proximity to a nearby informal settlement. The lack of a secure fence has rendered the school’s sports ground unusable, with learners reportedly accessing drugs through breaches in the perimeter fence.
“We went to visit the Belgravia school. Then they identified the challenges there - the crimes, the holes in the fences. They actually don't have their own fence and they're situated next to [an] informal settlement,” Lieutenant Colonel Ronel Els from the National Operations Command Centre (NOCC) in Pretoria told SAnews.
She said the absence of proper infrastructure was having a direct impact on learner safety and school activities.
“At this stage, they cannot utilise the sports ground, because the kids go through the fence [to access] drugs,” Els said, adding that intervention from relevant departments was required.
An oversight visit to Athlone Police Station highlighted space constraints at the Community Service Centre, including the lack of private areas for victims to report cases and the need to upgrade the victim-friendly room.
Officials also visited the Athlone Magistrates’ Court to assess court operations, followed by inspections of Thuthuzela Care Centres in Heideveld and Mitchells Plain. The delegation is expected to focus further attention on Mitchells Plain during follow-up engagements.
The programme concluded with a walkabout at the Marikana informal settlement and a media workshop on gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) sensitivity reporting, ahead of a radio panel discussion involving members of the JCPS Cluster.
The Director-General-led oversight forms part of government’s ongoing efforts to identify service delivery gaps and strengthen coordinated responses across departments at community level ahead of the State of the Nation Address on Thursday. – SAnews.gov.za
