Rats run rampant at Nelson Mandela Bay’s main police station, chewing wires and hiding in cars
Nelson Mandela Bay’s main cop shop — home to the district commissioner’s office — is overrun by rats.
The pests were said to have become a serious problem at the Mount Road police station, chewing through wiring underneath staff’s parked vehicles.
Some staff this week said they were at their wits’ end, alleging that the cheeky rodents — believed to be coming from the station’s filthy barracks where they were breeding in nests — were hiding under parked cars and being unknowingly driven home.
In other cases, they were said to have nibbled through computer wiring in the charge office.
With the problem now apparently out of hand, station management has turned to rat poison, sprinkling it around the building.
“Mount Road reported the challenge regarding the rat infestation to the public works department, as [it is] the custodian of the building,” police spokeswoman Captain Sandra Janse van Rensburg said.
“As an interim measure, supply chain management procured rat poison, which is being placed on a regular basis in identified problematic areas.”
She said the station was still awaiting a response from the public works and infrastructure department.
Mount Road police station is the biggest in the Nelson Mandela Bay area.
The building also houses the district’s office, which oversees 18 police stations.
Maj-Gen Vuyisile Ncata serves as the Nelson Mandela Bay district commissioner.
Public works and infrastructure spokesperson Lennox Mabaso said the department was well aware of the problem and that it had been flagged almost a year ago.
He said the department first asked all police stations in the Eastern Cape on March 5 to report any rat infestations, with the Mount Road police station notifying the department the following day.
This led to an inspection.
“During the inspection, deteriorating hygiene and cleanliness conditions were identified in areas where the rats were reportedly present, particularly within the barracks, which are used as both accommodation and office space,” Mabaso said.
“Since then, the department has consistently requested the client department to clean the facility in line with its responsibilities.”
The barracks, located on the same premises as the station, house living quarters for staff as well as offices, and have for a long time been dubbed dirty and problematic.
He said on April 2, the employment and labour department had issued a prohibition notice for the facility, instructing police to clean the barracks.
“This prohibition notice was not lifted,” he said.
“Instead, the police opted to relocate offices that were situated on the first floor of the barracks to an alternative facility.”
He added: “We have repeatedly requested that the barracks be cleaned and that waste management be addressed accordingly.
“While rat exterminators have already visited the site, extermination efforts cannot proceed until the facility has been adequately cleaned.”
He said the department was not aware of any cabling or telephone lines that have been damaged as a result of the rat infestation.
Insiders said the rats caused big problems.
“Without us knowing, the rats climb under our cars and end up being taken home with us,” a source said.
“The rats don’t want to eat the poison at all — not even a little bit.”
Another source said: “The electrical wiring in the charge office is also being chewed up — including our computers, electrical cables [and so on].”
IOL