The Gauteng Public Order Police has only one water cannon to assist this unit during strikes in the province.
John Moodey, DA spokesperson on community safety in Gauteng, said in a statement on Monday that the DA had heard with shock that the unit had only one water cannon for the entire province.
Moodey said he heard about the problem for the first time after addressing written questions about it to Faith Mazibuko, MEC of Community Safety in Gauteng.
Mazibuko said the only water cannon in the Johannesburg district.
Moodey said it is worrying that Gauteng, which is the most densely populated province, has only one water cannon. It is also the province with the most service delivery protests nationwide – 24% of such protests were in Gauteng in the past year alone.
“It is one of the unit’s resources needed to handle and manage protest action effectively. Our residents deserve a police service that has sufficient resources available to keep them safe in their homes and on the streets, ”said Moodey.
According to Moodey, he will now direct follow-up questions to the MEC to determine what plans are being implemented to resolve the shortage of resources at the unit as soon as possible.
