Residents of Makhaza in Khayelitsha welcomed the official opening of the long-awaited police station in the community on Thursday. Photos: Ashraf Hendricks
By Mary-Anne Gontsana
Construction of a permanent station in Makhaza will start next year, says Bheki Cele
- Nearly 20 years after the site was first identified, a police station in Makhaza, Khayelitsha in Cape Town was officially opened on Thursday by Police Minister Bheki Cele.
- The temporary Makhaza police station consists of prefabricated units and will relieve pressure on the under-resourced Harare police station.
- The R23-million station is a temporary measure until a permanent station is built in the 2025/26 financial year, police say.
Residents of Makhaza in Khayelitsha welcomed the official opening of the long-awaited police station in the community on Thursday, nearly 20 years after a site was identified.
Police Minister Bheki Cele joined senior SAPS officers and members of neighbourhood watches and community policing forums at the launch of the R23-million station. This will be a temporary police station until a permanent station is built in the 2025/26 financial year.
Cele told residents that the temporary station was in response to “the cries of the community of Makhaza who lived in fear” due to the rising levels of crime in the area.
Before the opening of this station, Makhaza residents had to travel to Harare police station which, according to the provincial Department of Police Oversight and Community Safety, is already under-resourced. Harare has a police-to-population ratio of one officer for every 773 residents.
Cele did not answer questions about the number of officers to be stationed in Makhaza, but said the station would be given 26 vehicles, of which 15 will be brand new.
In 2004, an open field in Makhaza was first proposed as the site for the new police station. During the Khayelitsha Commission of Enquiry in 2014, it came to light that the construction of the Makhaza police station was the second highest in the priority list of stations to be built in the Western Cape, but nothing had been done. The Commission recommended that the SAPS fast track construction.
Police Minister Bheki Cele told residents on Thursday that the temporary station was in response to “the cries of the community of Makhaza who lived in fear” due to the rising levels of crime in the area.
Five years after the Commission made its recommendations, the Social Justice Commission (SJC) and Makhaza residents occupied the vacant site in 2019. They built a wall, using concrete bricks and cement, in the centre of the land. The wall was painted white with “Makhaza Police Station” written in black paint.
The SJC’s Bonga Zamisa said on Thursday, “We have campaigned, protested, and picketed for this police station. We are looking forward to seeing the police resources here that should be able to cover not only Makhaza but surrounding areas as well like Nkanini, Zwezwe.”
Scores of residents, some wearing political party branded t-shirts, gathered at the gates of the new station where the opening ceremony was held. Resident Nontle Ntiyane was waving her scarf in the air while dancing and singing.
Ntiyane told GroundUp that crime in Makhaza had become unbearable. She said three men had broken into her home a few years ago and held the family at gunpoint while stealing all of their belongings.
Residents, some wearing political party branded t-shirts, gathered at the gates of the new station where an opening ceremony was held.
Another resident, Msimelelo Dyolisi from Zone 14, said in July last year he was robbed and assaulted on his way home from work. He went to report the incident at the mobile police station at a nearby mall, and the case was transferred to the Harare police station.
“I received a SMS, but my case was never assigned to an investigating officer, even though I told the police that I recognised one of the assailants. All they told me was to go to the criminal’s house and ask about my stolen belongings,” said Dyolisi.
Harare CPF chairperson and activist Funeka Soldaat said, “This is a very emotional day. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry.”
Earlier on Thursday, Cele visited the site of a new police station to be built in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain.
“These residents are currently using the services at Mitchells Plain station, which has a police-to-population ratio of one officer for every 600 residents,” said Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety, Reagen Allen.
The station is due to be completed at the end of November 2026.
This is the site where the new police station in Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain will be built.
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Picture: GroundUp
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