Last week the DA in Limpopo conducted an oversight at the Tshaulu police station which highlighted the shocking situation at rural police stations
It follows our recent oversight to oversight to rural police stations in the province that unfortunately confirmed lack of resources and manpower which hampers effective policing to communities.
The Tshaulu police station serves 14 villages in the Thulamela municipality. (See photos 
here and here)
Some of the challenges revealed during our oversight to Tshaulu include the following:
- The station has 60 police officers and has a vacancy rate of 21%.
- The 2 satellite police stations to assist Tshaulu have been closed due to a lack of manpower.
- There is no Victim Empowerment Centre which infringes on the rights of women and children who are victims of gender-based violence.
- The office accommodation is poor; more than 7 detectives share 3 offices and the Vispol commander has no office.
- Out of the 15 allocated vehicles, 7 are non-functioning due to high mileage; some vehicles have up to 400 000 km on the clock. Since 2022, 2 new vehicles were allocated to the station.
It is unacceptable that our police officers who are already burdened with heavy caseloads, must endure adverse working conditions.
We reiterate our call to the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, for an urgent infrastructure audit of all police stations and police barracks across the province.