The FF Plus in Mpumalanga is seriously concerned about the shortage of police vehicles in the province, especially in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality that services an area of 27 896km².
The FF Plus asked the Mpumalanga MEC for Community Safety, Vusi Shongwe, several months ago to, among other things, explain why there is such a critical shortage of police vehicles in the province.
The questions were put to the MEC after the FF Plus was approached to help bring the serious shortage of police vehicles to the attention of the Mpumalanga Legislature.
Various police units’ vehicles spend weeks at the workshop for repairs and as a result, these units have only one or two vehicles at their disposal to combat crime.
In Ehlanzeni, according to media reports, there are approximately 40 police vehicles with mechanical problems at the police’s workshop in Mbombela (Nelspruit).
In previous questions put to the MEC, the FF Plus enquired how it is possible that the former provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-general Mondi Zuma, was able to procure 13 super luxury vehicles, including BMWs, at a cost of R7,4 million while the money should have been used to obtain reliable fleet vehicles for the various police units.
According to Shongwe, those luxury vehicles were indeed procured as fleet vehicles that can be used for any emergency. That is, however, not quite the case.
Mpumalanga needs an effective police force and if there are no vehicles available, police officers cannot respond to emergencies and cannot perform their duties effectively.
It could result in a serious security crisis in Mpumalanga.
The FF Plus demands that Shongwe must take immediate action to address the shortage of police vehicles in the province.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Mnr. Werner Weber on FF Plus
