Klerksdorp - North West MEC for Public Safety, Howard Yawa, has been encouraged by improvements in service delivery at some of the provinces police stations.
The MEC made unannounced visits to several police stations in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality on Friday night. He visited Klerksdorp, Tigane, Kanana, Orkney, Stilfontein, Khuma and Jouberton police stations.
Yawa said he was particularly pleased to see improvements in the sobriety of police on duty and compliance with maintenance of registers as per prescripts.
He also discovered that service delivery during night shifts at most of the police stations were at an acceptable level.
However, at the conclusion of visits, he said there was a need for service delivery to be jacked up at Klerksdorp Police station. The community service centre at the police station had been found in a dirty state.
"Two police members who were supposed to be on duty at the police station at the time of the visit could not be accounted for. There were over 60 awaiting trial detainees in the holding cells, CCV cameras were out of order and some members were on duty without wearing their bullet proof vests," said the department.
Provincial Commissioner Lesetja Beetha, who accompanied the MEC, instructed that some of the awaiting trial detainees be transferred from Klerksdorp to Potchefstroom police station to ease overcrowding in the holding cells.
The MEC found that there was a need for another police station in Kanana as well as the fixing of defects at the newly built Khuma police station.
He is expected to engage with the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa, and the national Department of Public Works on the matter.
