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The days of waiting for public transport or walking long distances in order to access the services of the police or to report crime are finally over for the rural community of Kranskop in Greytown. Seeing the old and infirm braving the scorching heat of the summer sun and the icy-cold winter weather to get to the Kranskop Police Station, touched the heart of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Mmamonnye Ngobeni. She handed over a fully equipped mobile Community Service Centre (CSC) to the community on Tuesday, 3 July 2012. “This mobile Community Service Centre is an initiative to enhance service delivery in the Kranskop policing precincts and is for your benefit so I urge you to take advantage and utilise it fully.

This facility offers you the basic services that you would get from a police station and includes the certifying of documents, reporting of criminal cases for investigation, signing of affidavits by a commissioner of oaths and reporting of motor vehicle accidents or any other matter that deserves police attention. The presence of the mobile CSC will deter criminals from operating in this area so now your community, especially the vulnerable women and children, will also be safer.” said General Ngobeni.

Feedback from community members was very positive with many of them expressing their thanks and appreciation to the SAPS for the project. It was also well received by local businesses, churches and community leaders including the local Amakosi. The mobile CSC is in constant radio contact with its mother station, the Kranskop SAPS and has a temporary holding cell and facilities to interview and obtain statements from complainants and victims of crime. General Ngobeni has pledged to allocate a cellphone and computer equipment to the project.

A 4X4 will also be made available in due course as some areas are difficult to access due to the rough terrain. As the name implies, the mobile CSC will be mobile throughout the area, stalling whenever and wherever necessary. The facility will operate from 07h00 until 19h00 every day, including weekends. The public will still be able to contact the Kranskop SAPS in case of any emergencies during the night and the routine night patrols by the station patrol vehicles will continue.

A needs analysis will be carried out to assess the viability of launching similar projects in other areas within the province.