Cape Town - The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has decried the provincial police management for compromising service delivery to the Langa community by harbouring a police official who has allegedly subjected its members to an undesirable working environment.
Members affiliated to the union held a protest outside the Langa police station on Wednesday, calling for Vispol commander Sakhiwo Dulungana’s removal.
The protest entered its second day yesterday and, according to the union, it will continue until the provincial police management heeded its concerns.
The union accuses Dulungana of intimidating and victimising its members and subjecting them to a sickening working environment that affected service delivery.
The Langa police station and its police officers had been criticised for service delivery failures, prompting the community to call for its closure.
In June 2021, enraged residents called the police “useless” and, in support of the community safety patrollers, called on the police to improve their service delivery.
In a Human Rights Commission stakeholder engagement on policing challenges in the area held in November 2021, the community depicted the police station as dysfunctional with incompetent and corrupt police officers who had brought shame to policing in the area.
Popcru provincial treasurer Adamou Yolandi said the protest started last year when, in November, the union submitted a memorandum to the management, calling for the removal of the police station commander, Deidre Engelbrecht, together with Dulungana.
Engelbrecht, who was allegedly assaulted by a detective, has since been removed.
Yolandi said the union concluded about 30 statements of victimisation against Dulungana from its members, and this was followed by an engagement with the employer where he was warned not to intimidate and victimise their members.
Instead, Yolandi said the problem escalated and led to Dulungana opening criminal cases against the union members, resulting in their members opening counter-cases.
With the cases currently before the court, she said the proceedings were hampering service delivery.
“Our concern is, where are we taking Langa if there is no order in the police station? What satisfactory services are our members expected to give to the community if there is no order in the police station?
“These members are emotionally strained because of those elements of victimisation. For the police station to operate properly, the employer must remove this individual,” Yolandi said.
She said the union would continue with the protest until it had received a response to its memorandum.
“We’re going to continue with the protesting until he’s been removed because the employer failed to respond to a memorandum but only chose what they wanted, removing the station commander while Dulungana is continuing to victimise our members,” she said.
Police spokesperson André Traut said the provincial management was looking into the demands made by the union.
