A hundred SAPS vehicles will be handed over at Bobbiespark in Bloemfontein on Tuesday by the Free State Provincial Premier, Sisi Ntombela, as part of the SAPS’ Operation Phethisa Molao. OFM News previously reported that over 100 vehicles that were procured during the last financial year, were still standing at the provincial warehouse waiting to be dispersed.

ALSO READ: Hundreds of new police vehicles baking in the sun – PHOTOS

It is at the moment unclear whether the vehicles that will be handed over on Tuesday are the same ones that were reported to be standing in the sun for over a year. The ministry, in reply to a question tabled in Parliament by the DA MP, George Michalakis, revealed that the vehicles which were procured during the last financial year were about 177. Some of the information indicates that vehicles were bought up to 15 months ago. According to the ministry, a total of eleven vehicles were bought for one of the biggest police stations in the province, Park Road in Bloemfontein. The first five were bought in April 2021 and later another six were procured for the station. These vehicles have, however, not been delivered yet. The second biggest purchase was seven police vehicles destined for Welkom, but also not delivered.

ALSO READ: Free State police stations months without half their fleet

The shortage of police vehicles had previously caused some of the Free State police stations to operate without half of their fleet. The vehicles, which belonged to Hertzogville and Bultfontein, were reported to have been in for repairs for months. At Hertzogville there were a total of ten vehicles, and five were out of action. While at Bultfontein, nine out of seventeen vehicles at the police station were waiting to be repaired.

ALSO READ: Police vans gathering dust at repair shops

The period of having police vehicles repaired has previously been one of the reasons for the shortages experienced at police stations. The Ministry of Police previously revealed that It could take more than a month to replace the battery of a police vehicle in the Free State or more than four months just to inspect one vehicle. 

During the Minister of Police Bheki Cele’s visit to Botshabelo, residents complained about the shortage of police vehicles. Now Cele's department revealed that out of the 31 vehicles allocated to the Boithuso Police Station in Botshabelo, 13 are in for repairs and one vehicle has been waiting to be inspected for over four months.

OFM News