Chinese community centres in South Africa to bridge differences in language

It is causing a stir on social media but contrary to what the likes of Julius Malema and others believe, Chinese communities have not taken the law into their own hands.

New Chinese “police stations” – one of which has just opened in Port Elizabeth – are in fact community centres working together with policing forums established to improve communication and relations between the police and the local Chinese community, a spokesman for the centre said on Wednesday.

The furore arose when Twitter “celebrity” ‘Man’s Not Barry Roux’ tweeted that Chinese people were now opening police stations in South Africa.

He wrote: “Now Chinese are opening their own police stations in South Africa, they have already opened 13 & this one was opened yesterday in PE.”

To that many replied, with Malema, exclaiming He Banna (what the hell) to the post.

Some asked who had authorised the “police stations”.

CEO of the Chinese Community and Police Co-operation Centre (CCPCC), Jie Lee Zhang, said his organisation was far from taking over the police indicating that would be unconstitutional in any case.

Zhang said the office would become “the middleman” between South African government departments and Chinese people living in South Africa.

“We had two functions on Sunday [October 28]; the first [half of the] function was the grand opening of the new Chinese Community and Police Co-operation Centre in the Nelson Mandela metro.

“The second function was the opening of the 3rd Term Chinese Language Training Programme through SAPS, which started in 2016, with thee Mount Road Cluster at the SAPS Training Centre in Bird Street.”

According to Zhang this programme was a co-operative initiative that offered training in basic Mandarin so that the Chinese community living in South Africa and locals had a better understanding of each other.

Police spokesman Captain Khaya Tonjeni dismissed claims that the police were getting training from the Chinese saying that this was a programme to ensure better communication between police officers and Chinese nationals.

“Police are taught basic vocabulary to help them understand when Mandarin speakers come to lay charges at the police station.”