08 Jul 2013

Mahalapye police station commander, Superintendent Olefile Badisang has refuted allegations that they take long to respond to calls for assistance.

In an interview recently, Superintendent Badisang said attending to issues was one of their core duties. Residents of Mokoswane and Kudumatse in Mahalapye East constituency had complained to their Member of Parliament, Ms Botlogile Tshireletso that they were not happy with the services they acquired from Mahalapye police office.

Mr Mosola Gabathuleng of Mokoswane voiced his concern regarding the time the police took to attend to their issues. Mr Gabathuleng said when the police were called to intervene, they either arrived late or did not come at all.

Mr Gabathuleng said in some incidents, feedback was never given on cases that had been reported. Superintendent Badisang requested the public to know the procedure in reporting, especially with a phone call. He encouraged people to make sure they get the name of the officer assisting them so that they would be in a position to trace the record.

He said if the police officer refused with the name, the client should make note of the time the called was made. Superintendent Badisang also said although they had shortage of vehicles, he could not account to it being the reason for the delays. He stated that they took 15 minutes to attend to cases in Mahalapye and an hour in villages out of Mahalapye.

He explained that in every village kgotla, the police had special constables and clusters whose main duties were law enforcement and responding to emergencies in villages. He said they were there to protect public safety in their different respective jurisdictions any time of the day.

He asked the community to make use of the services of clusters and special constables and urged them to always be willing to help with information especially of criminal suspects. Nevertheless Superintendent Badisang said Mahalapye was a crime invested area saying on daily basis they received about 30 cases which they needed to attend. ENDS