The Minister of Police, Bheki Cele and the National Commissioner of the SAPS, Fannie Masemola have offficially opened the Makhaza Police Station in Khayelitsha.

The police station was handed over to the community on Thursday, 16 May.

This is a fully-fledged police station that will operate at full capacity offering all policing services from crime prevention, visible policing and investigation services to a population of 85 000 residents.

Makhaza Police Station is the fourth station to be built in Khayelitsha after Harare, Lingelethu West and Khayelitsha Site B police station.

This brings services closer to the community of Khayelitsha who had to travel long distances for services and reducing crime levels in the area is a top priority for the Western Cape police.

During the handing over of the station, Minister Cele also handed over fifteen new vehicles fitted with Automatic Number Plate Recognition(ANPR) which is a system that can assist police to detect stolen vehicles by detecting if a vehicle is registered or licensed.

Masemola says the ANPR technology will enhance policing efforts in preventing and combating crime.

“We have started rolling out these new devices throughout the country to trace criminals and also deal decisively with car hijacking’s and vehicle theft criminals. We have a number of the devices in each province and we hope to get more to assist and enhance our crime fighting initiatives.”

Cele says the Police Ministry will continue to ensure services are brought closer to communities.

“We will continue to advocate for the building of more stations so communities are able to have greater access to services. A police station must be in close reach and a walk away for victims of crime and communities. We hope this station will address murders, rape and violent crime in this area. We also welcome the ANPR system that will enable us to recover stolen vehicles and suspicious activities.”

Earlier in the day, a sod turning ceremony took place at the Tafelsig police station which marked the start of the construction of a new police station.

When completed, the Tafelsig Police Station will be the third station in the Mitchell’s Plain area.