Benoni Vehicle Clearance and Investigation Unit offices vandalised and not fully operational whilst Public Works drags its feet on getting it fixed by Haseena Ismail, MP, Benoni Constituency Political Head.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Minister of Public Works, Patricia De Lille, following several oversight visits conducted at the Benoni Vehicle Clearance and Investigation Unit (VCIU) offices which have been vandalised and not fully operational since last year September. The Benoni VCIU office deals with stolen and cloned vehicles, also police clearances for importing and exporting of vehicles.
The offices were vandalised and electricity cables stolen due to a lack of security at the premises. There have been at least three attacks with the shocking discovery that important documents were found set alight in the process.
The Unit Colonel and his staff are currently working out of a makeshift office under a carport.
It is also concerning that the remaining sensitive and confidential dockets are currently lying across the vandalised property where anyone can walk in and take them.
Minister De Lille must fast track the renovation and restoration of the building to ensure that the offices are fully operational so that the staff can continue to do their jobs effectively.
The DA will engage with the Provincial Police Commissioner’s office to get clarity on security measures that will be deployed to ensure that no further sensitive and confidential documents are compromised.
We will also request the Commissioner’s office to establish what documents were destroyed or remain missing and how they will contact companies to restart the process.
