Flying squad cops reduced to jalopy pace

Flying squad officers in Gauteng are sharing rides and borrowing “slow” cars from administrative staff in a desperate bid to keep the wheels turning, because more than half of their unit’s 231 vehicles are out of commission.

“We are supposed to work two members per car, but now we are four in one car,” a senior member of the East Rand flying squad said.

“The cars are there, the only problem is we don’t get them back in time from the workshops. One car that was in an accident was recently returned after waiting for repairs for a year and four months.”

Gauteng MEC for community safety Faith Mazibuko revealed the dire situation this week in her response to a question posed by DA MPL Michael Shackleton.

In total, 124 of the squad’s vehicles are off the road in the province.

Worst affected is the West Rand unit, where just six of its 26 cars are running. In Pretoria, 16 of the 35 vehicles are operational, and in Johannesburg 14 of the 37 cars are out of action.

Because flying squad cars are on the road almost 24 hours a day, they are prone to breakdowns and need regular attention, said Johan Burger, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.

“It is extremely important that these vehicles are regularly checked, serviced and properly maintained.”

Burger said officers were supposed to inspect the vehicles at least once a week to ensure they are “in good running order and that the maintenance services are up to date”.

“I’m not convinced that these weekly inspections are always diligently carried out.”

Burger said another problem was that many of the outsourced service providers did not meet the minimum requirements.

“Therefore these vehicles queue up at these service providers and stay with them for long periods.” This leads to officers being reluctant to report vehicles because they know that once the vehicle goes in, they will be without a vehicle for a long time, he said.

Burger said this was a “big problem” and it badly affected crime response times.

“The vehicles criminals use are also highspeed vehicles, and sending out a patrol van to intercept these vehicles is never going to work. This is an unacceptable situation.”

South African Policing Union acting deputy general secretary Peter Ntsime said the union was concerned about the issue.

“The delays are caused because approval can only be done by the [police] national office. We believe if this function could be decentralised it will avert the delays in servicing and fixing police cars and service delivery will not be hampered,” Ntsime said.

“Lack of resources and even having to be four in one vehicle or using admin vehicles which are not high-performance cars are bringing down morale.”

Gauteng police spokesperson Capt Kay Makhubele said a new system had been introduced to administer the maintenance process.

“It is a challenge at the moment but police are working on it to improve the services at the garage. Where there is a new system, it might be challenging until you get used to it … We are working hard to improve the service in the garage.”