After many years of struggles and demands for the construction of a police station, the community of Makhaza’s cries have finally been heard and answered.
On Thursday 16 May, the Minister of Police Bheki Cele officially opened the R23 million station, something that left the Makhaza community over the moon.
Harare Community Policing Forum (CPF) chair Funeka Soldaat said the construction of the police station has been long overdue.
She said she has mixed feelings about it. “I’m excited, but at the same time, I feel like I can cry thinking of all the struggles that we went through. I never thought that the day would come when we saw the station operating. We went a long way knocking on various government departments demanding this station,” said Soldaat, adding that they never lost focus. She stated that even though they were not seeing eye to eye with other community stakeholders, they managed to unite and fight for a good cause.
“We were working together with various stakeholders, including Social Justice Coalition and Khayelitsha Development Forum (KDF) marching together for this police station. The involvement of the KDF helped us a lot because it put on more weight and we were able to put pressure on the government officials,” said Soldaat.
Former KDF chair and current ANC Dulhar Ormar Region chair Ndithini Tyhido stated that the mission had been accomplished.
He stated many people questioned his leadership when he took a stance to be involved in a fight to demand the station.
“As an activist not everyone will love you. There were many people who would say good and bad things about me. But, what is important is to stay focused all the time,” said Tyhido.
He stated that fighting for the construction of the police station wasn’t an easy task.
He said they worked with various police ministers before the station was built.
“We worked with Nathi Mthethwa, Nkosinathi Ntleko, and Fikile Mbalula before we worked with Bheki Cele. Some of the ministers sent us from pillar to post. But, even though they were playing with us we never lost focus,” he said.
Tyhido said he is grateful to see the station finally operating.
SJC activist Bonga Zamisa said they are pleased with the new development. He said they want to see the men in blue protecting the community.
However, Zamisa questioned the resources deployed at the station.
“We want to know how many officers including the detectives are stationed there and the vehicles. We believe the detectives play a huge role because they are the ones who ensure justice is served,” he stated, adding that they would not allow the station to have fewer detectives while it served a huge community.
Zamisa vowed to keep Cele on his toes to ensure that the construction of the permanent station begins in January next year.
