Pretoria News reports that many Tshwane Metro Police Department (TMPD) officers run the risk of being killed in the line of duty owing to a lack of bulletproof vests and firearms in at least three of its regions.  

The shocking revelations were laid bare in a report tabled at a council monthly sitting on Thursday.  The report was compiled after visits undertaken by members of the oversight committee on community safety to metro police centres in Mamelodi, Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit in November.  Committee chairperson Alfred Makhafola said they found that there were shortages of resources, including firearms.  “Some of the department’s intakes recruited in 2015 were not given the firearms,” he said.  In Cullinan, members raised the alarm that officers reported for duty without bulletproof vests.  There was also a concern about a shortage of vehicles at the station.  More shockingly, it came to light that officers used cable ties to handcuff suspects under arrest because there were no handcuffs.  A shortage of firearms was also a concern for officers at Bronkhorstspruit, where 119 members were stationed.  In Mamelodi, some of the 204 uniformed members were not dressed in full uniform as the uniform shop was reported to be lacking some sizes.  The centre did not have back-up generators to assist in the event of a power failure.  Many more issues were identified in the report, which recommended that the council had to attend to these matters.

• Read this report by Rapula Moatshe in full at Pretoria News

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