Many years of pressure on police authorities to provide the community with a proper police station for Blemfontein residents have finally yielded positive results.

Sonskyn police station in Phase 5 in Bloemfontein used to operate as a satellite station. It didn’t operate at night due to safety concerns for police officers, following the shooting and disarming of two cops by criminals in 2017.

Finally, a newly built structure has been built to serve communities.

#sapsHQ [WATCH] The Acting Minister of Police, Mr Firoz Cachalia and the National Police Commissioner, General Fannie Masemola unveiled the plaque at the Sonskyn Police Station. #sapsHQ The opening of Sonskyn Police Station which forms part of the #SAPS’ strategic direction to… pic.twitter.com/pWfYn9H5am

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 7, 2025

For years, the community of Phase 5 complained about the lack of policing in their area, as they were forced to use the Bloemspruit station. That also created a problem for the residents as it was a distance away. But now all their efforts in demanding a new permanent structure have been realised.

” I’m very happy because we were waiting to have a police station for a long time and we were short of vans. Now that we have it, we will be able to make use of it. We are happy about it as it will assist us, moving forward,” says the first resident.

“Even crime was high in the area and we were short of vans. When you arrive at the police station, they will say there are no vans. I’m very happy and I thank you,” says another resident.

“I’m very happy because there will be improvement. The police will be able to able to assist those in trouble. They must be able to serve the people diligently. There are also men who are abused by their partners so the police must act and not only take the women’s side. We welcome the opening of the police station, we are pleased with that,” says a third resident.

Acting Police Minister, Firoz Cachalia, acknowledged that the Sonskyn police station is situated in one of the hotspot areas in Bloemfontein.

#sapsHQ [OPENING OF SONSKYN POLICE STATION] Acting Minister of Police, Mr Firoz Cachalia addressed the members on parade and instructed them to always follow the #SAPS Code of Conduct and serve the people with pride. The Ating Minister further encouraged community members to form… https://t.co/USISEz8uDL pic.twitter.com/Q5FyyGCb3H

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 7, 2025

Cachalia urged the residents to work together with the police in order to curb crime.

RELATED VIDEO | SAPS march against GBV in Bloemfontein

‘I got a presentation before going to the police station. The kind of crime you see in Sonskyn is the kind of crime we see in a lot of our communities because of the high levels of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. So, contact crime is high in the area, and GBV is also high. But they now have a police station and our message to the community was to work with the police in that station and make sure that the station fulfills its capacity, its potential to improve safety in the area. So a partnership between the community and the police leadership in that station is what will improve things,” says Cachalia.

#sapaHQ [OPENING OF SONSKYN POLICE STATION]
The Sonskyn Police Station is part of SAPS’s broader infrastructure development strategy, focused on:
• Enhancing visible and accessible policing
• Improving responsiveness to local safety needs
• Strengthening crime prevention… https://t.co/T76fA6V48Y pic.twitter.com/3HNJbjFXfN

— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 7, 2025

Free State Premier, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, welcomed the opening of the station and insisted that it serve the community with pride.

“As you know that when you call a police station, a satellite there are limited activities that would take place here. So today, we are happy that I pleaded with them at that time, I was still the MEC of Community Safety, Roads and Transport. I said the only time you will come and hand over this police station is when you declare it as a fully fledge police station, due to the issues that are surrounding this area and the community here. And as I indicated that Bloemspruit really had a lot of cases, and people were far from Bloemspruit. Today, I’m over the moon. I’m short of words to express my happiness that the SAPS have declared this police station as a fully fledge station that is going to serve our people in almost 4 wards in Mangaung,” says Letsoha-Mathae.

The Mangaung Metro municipality also welcomed the opening of the station.

“This is a milestone for the people of Mangaung, especially people in the Bloemspruit area. This police station is going to serve the community around this area. As Mangaung Metro, we are delighted to see that the efforts we have taken to make sure that we bring public safety to our people are going to be realised by bringing this police station here. We are so delighted and we would want to thank the Premier who has been advocating so much for this police station to be turned into a fully fledge police station, other than being a satellite,” says Letsoha-Mathae.

Residents have been urged to look after the public property and not destroy it.