The signs at the new police station in Joza are up on the wall, the paved area is marked and from outside the beautiful multi-million-rand building looks like it's ready for action.
The signs at the new police station in Joza are up on the wall, the paved area is marked and from outside the beautiful multi-million-rand building looks like it's ready for action.
But between the Public Works Department, Makana Municipality, the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Eskom no one seems to know when Joza police station will start serving Grahamstown East.
This is largely thanks to the extraordinary planning omission that's allowed the R68-million project to reach completion without a power source being secured.
The municipality says it's not their problem. Spokesman Mncedisi Boma insists Eskom is responsible for supplying electricity to Grahamstown East.
"We are very clear on this. All electrical work that is done in Grahamstown East falls under Eskom. We have given Eskom the power to do everything that has to do with electricity on that side of town," Boma said.
He said the municipality had never been involved in the early planning stages for the station. "We have no network distribution in the area where the new police station is situated," Boma said.
The police nevertheless hold the municipality responsible for the delay. Grahamstown cluster commander Brigadier Vakala Moyake said the municipality should have known what kind of transformer was needed in that area, "not only at the police station".
He said the police were hamstrung. "We cannot take over the police station when everything is not done. "There are other logistical problems there as well. If we do take over that police station, it means that we accept responsibility for everything that has not been finished," Moyake said.
In a response indicating that the police station would not be operational in December, as had been promised, Eastern Cape police spokesman Lieutenant Khaya Tonjeni told Grocott's Mail that a radio mast still needed to be built and additional security measures needed to be installed for the storerooms.
He spoke at the time about the problem of getting an electricity connection.
"The Department of Public Works [under whose management the building of the police station falls]is currently in negotiations with Makana Municipality regarding the permanent electricity supply," Tonjeni said at the time.
Public Works national spokesman Thami Mchunu referred questions back to the SAPS and Eskom, saying he was not sure of the details regarding electricity supply.
The police said it was unclear how long it would take to get the station connected.
In an emailed response on Friday, provincial police said they had forwarded Grocott's Mail's questions to their regional spokesperson.
Eskom spokesperson for the Eastern Cape Ntombekhaya Mafumbatha had not responded to questions at the time of going to press.
