SAPS employees at Makhado Police Station in Louis Trichardt have reason to be concerned over their health. According to information shared with the Limpopo Mirror, the station has been without water for more than eight months now, with employees having to bring their own drinking water from home and fetching buckets of water from outside taps to flush the toilets. When the toilets are blocked, they have to go to the nearby garage where they pay R2 every time they need to relieve themselves.
Speaking to the Limpopo Mirror on condition of anonymity, one of the police officers who work at Makhado Police Station said the current situation was very bad. He said that, as a result of there being no water, the toilets could not be cleaned, leaving the staff exposed to serious health hazards.
The police officer said that staff members had raised the issue with the provincial office several times, but nothing was done about it. "Employees are forced to work under conditions that are not conducive to a healthy and safe environment. It must be noted that the lack of water exposes us all to possible infection. Police officers cannot leave the police station with diseases due to poor hygiene control. We feel unsafe. This is a worrisome working environment," he said.
Limpopo Transport and Community Safety spokesperson Ms Tidimalo Chuene said that Makhado Police Station operated in an area where the municipality should be in a position to provide water as one of the basic services but did not. "Unfortunately, the station is not immune from water shortages when the local authority is unable to provide water for the area. We are hoping for a speedy resolution to these water challenges in the area to enable the SAPS to provide a healthy working environment for all stakeholders utilising the station."
Chuene added that the SAPS management in the area was working on temporary relief measures, including delivering water to the station.
Makhado Police Station is not the only police station, however, that suffers due to the lack of water. Tshilwavhusiku SAPS has been without running water since 2020, and because of this, awaiting-trial prisoners have to be incarcerated at the Makhado Correctional Services and Mara Police Station - more than 20km away. When the prisoners must appear in the Tshilwavhusiku Magistrate's Court, they have to be collected and transported from Louis Trichardt and Mara, all the way back to Tshilwavhusiku. Because of the issue of water shortages, members from the Tshilwavhusiku SAPS spend most of their time transporting prisoners back and forth in the vehicles that should be utilised for crime prevention.