DEPUTY police minister Cassel Mathale and national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole have opened their first quarantine and isolation sites for the men and women in blue.
The launch of the facilities was held at the Tshwane Police Academy in Pretoria West yesterday, alongside the management of the Police Medical Scheme.
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Police spokesman Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said this is part of the organisation’s response to address the Covid-19 pandemic that has already claimed the lives of 193 cops.
He said the facilities, which are situated in Gauteng and the Western Cape, will officially open its doors to the organisation’s 195 000 workforce and they have 144 beds.
“The identified facilities currently serve as basic police training institutions and they are, SAPS Tshwane Academy in Tshwane and the SAPS Bishop Lavis Academy in Cape Town,” he said.
Mathale said this was a step in the right direction for the men in blue.
He said this will help to ensure the protections of the frontlines in the fight against Covid-19.
“This will ensure more access to quality health care for our police officers and their families,” he said.
Mathale said for them to continue delivering the quality work for the people, they need to have a proper health care system.
Principal Officer from Polmed, Neo Khauoe, said they were grateful for the support being given to the men and women in blue.
She said although the Covid-19 cases have been decreasing, there was still a need to be vigilant.
“Over 200 of our members are hospitalised while we have others in quarantine. This is not a nice thing to be facing,” she said
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She said the new sites are not for fashion but are a need.
She said in order to save lives, they need to have fit officers on the street.
“These are not the only facilities we have. We have facilities in all nine provinces with over 2000 beds for our members. This facility will help to create less burdens of the hospitals” she said.
Sitole said the reason they chose to open the police hospital now was because it has been part of their plans to have a hospital of their own, but the plan was to open it next year.
“This is a human capital investment and we need to assure that the police safety comes first,” said Sitole.
