The SA Police Service (SAPS), while not divulging exact numbers so as not to compromise policing activities, has informed a Member of Parliament (MP) it has one short of forty-four thousand six hundred vehicles nationally.
Lisa Schickerling, Democratic Alliance (DA) deputy spokesperson for Minister Senzo Mchunu’s Ministry of Police, was told, among others, Gauteng police have 8 700 vehicles at their disposal. Vehicle numbers for other provinces supplied by the Minister cover KwaZulu-Natal (6 378), Western Cape (5 401), Eastern Cape (4 897), Free State (3 263), Limpopo (2 913), North West (2 470), Mpumalanga (2 453) and Northern Cape (2 073) with a further 6 051 vehicles for SAPS “Head Office”.
Not all are serviceable, Mchunu makes clear in his reply to Schickerling, stating 2 434 are “about to be boarded” nationally. He explains not releasing detailed information per province on serviceable vehicles so as not to compromise policing activities and the safety of SAPS employees.
In November 2024, Gauteng police received a boost with the delivery of 209 new vehicles, which were handed over to various Gauteng police stations and their specialised units.
Between mid-2023 and the end of 2024, the SAPS received three helicopters, 700 new cars, 12 000 CCTV cameras, over 12 000 community police wardens and five mobile incident command centres to support their work to fight crime in Gauteng.
