Cape Town - The Western Cape flying squad is severely under-resourced. Its staff complement has been halved over the past five years, sparking concerns residents could be left vulnerable.
Sketching a grim picture in the provincial legislature, DA MPL Mireille Wenger said there had been a 55 percent reduction in the staffing numbers. “The officers assigned to the single SAPS flying squad in our province was 200 officers in 2011, and this has been whittled down to just 90 officers, a 55 percent reduction,” she said.
The information was revealed by Police Minister Nathi Nhleko during a recent reply to a parliamentary question in the National Assembly.
The information provided by the national police indicates that although other provinces have seen marginal reductions in their police complement, the Western Cape was worst off, with more than double the number of cuts.
“Other provinces with similar populations to serve have several more units. Gauteng has the most number of flying squads at seven, the Eastern Cape has six units and Mpumalanga and North West have more flying squads than we do, at three each,” Wenger said.
