Pictures | Cracks, leaks and frustration on the PMB Central Police Station

Broken windows, leaky blankets and collapsing soil are among the conditions under which officials from the central police station in the central police station of Pietermaritzburg – problems that have disturbed operations and disrupted criticism from police unions and parliament.

The train station is located on Jabu Ndlovu Street and serves Central Pietermaritzburg.

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However, the employees frustrated an deteriorating infrastructure.

Officers who spoke to The witness Under the condition of the anonymity, the building said from leaky roofs and cells, broken soils, cracked windows and loose doorbones.

They named water leaks as a serious problem that forced the closure of some offices and influenced the operating processes of the station.

In addition, they added that these problems exist for years and have expressed hope that a recently visited visit to the Ministry of Public Work and Infrastructure (DPWI) would lead to improvements.

The spokesman for Kwazulu-Natal South African Police Service (SAPS), Colonel Robert Netshiunda, said: “The functionality of the police station you mentioned was not affected in any way.”

Since you said that the Ministry of Public Work and Infrastructure carried out a visit, it could be better set up to comment on all infrastructure -related matters if available.

The DPWI spokesman James de Villiers and Lennox Mabaso did not answer on inquiries about comments.

In the meantime, the portfolio committee of the parliamentary for police concerns has expressed the lack of infrastructure at police stations in Kwazulu-Natal and at the East Cape.

The chairman of the committee, Ian Cameron, said during a report that “almost every police station” in the two provinces requires urgent attention from DPWI.

“The frustration of civil servants who work in dilapidated stations is considerable,” said Cameron, adding that the DPWi committee would urge to act.

He described the Verulam station as “falling and dilapidated”, whereby offices represented health and security risks, including water, which through the electrical wiring.

In Durban Central, the committee unusable over half of the cells due to plumber problems and floods.

Leaps and generators were also not functional.

Cameron noticed that some of the damage in the cells were due to vandalism by prisoners.

The police unions also expressed concerns at the meeting.

Nthabeleng Molefe, Provincial Secretary of Popcru, said that the infrastructure problem was not limited to a province.

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“Poor conditions can influence morality and the impact of performance in the contraception of crime,” she said.

People go to police stations from security. How can you feel calmed when the station is disordered?

Molefe said that Popcru believes that the maintenance of the station should fall among the police authorities rather than in the DPWI to speed up repairs and upgrades.