Kuils River Community Police Forum was shocked and said they were not made aware of the faulty lines. File picture: Leon Lestrade/African News Agency/ANA.
Telephone lines at the Kuils River police station detective branch are faulty, said the police spokesperson, Colonel André Traut, adding that the telephones are working fine in other sections.
“The telephone lines of the Kuils River detective branch are, however, defective and the issue is being attended to,” he said.
Western Cape MEC of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen, hoped that the issue could be speedily addressed.
“It is always deeply worrying when SAPS stations are not functioning optimally. That the telephone lines of the detectives are not working is unacceptable. It is vital that the public has access to detectives, while investigators should be able to contact any stakeholder they need to engage. We need to get to a point where alternatives are in place, should any SAPS station face a challenge.
“It is encouraging to note that the issue of the defective telephone lines is being attended to. We trust this matter can swiftly be resolved,” he said.
Kuils River Community Police Forum (CPF) chairperson, Faizel Martin, expressed shock and said they were not made aware of the faulty lines.
“The CPF was not aware that the landlines of the detective branch office were not working as this was never brought to our attention.
“I only became aware of this when it was queried by the media (on Wednesday). Upon hearing about this, I immediately tried contacting the office (switchboard) via its landline number in order to verify whether the landline was working or not.
“I dialled the number twice but there was no dial tone. I also checked whether it was load shedding at the time in Kuils River, which could be the cause for the ‘dead’ lines but it was not the case. I was surprised to hear that the ‘dead’ landlines were confirmed by the SAPS, but yet the local CPF were not informed," he said.