Employees at Brixton police station in Johannesburg have raised concerns about their health and poor working conditions.
This follows Joburg Water cutting the water supply at the police station last week.
The employees said all the toilets have been locked, forcing them to share one that is not cleaned.
The employees said inmates were even taken to Sophiatown, because the holding cells were also affected.
“Even at courts, there is no water. We went there to use their bathroom and they told us they also did not have water,” said the employees.
Gauteng police spokespersons Colonel Noxolo Kweza and Lieutenant-Colonel Mavela Masondo did not respond to queries.
Questions were also sent to Joburg Water spokesperson, Nombuso Shabalala, who indicated via her email that she was out of the office until September 30. She requested that her colleague, Nolwazi Dhlamini, should be contacted for urgent matters. However, Dhlamini did not respond either.
In a leaked message from support head, Lieutenant-Colonel Jacques Wiese, the station said the matter had been taken up with the Department of Public Works, but it was unclear when it would be resolved.
Wiese said his office was also trying to arrange a water tanker or two to be able to supply the station in the meantime.
“Your patience and assistance is requested during this period,” he said.
“Until water tankers arrive, commanders must evaluate the situation at his or her component on a day-to-day basis and decide how he or she will be managing personnel under their command,” Wiese added.
He said the Community Service Centre must remain operational 24 hours and members are requested to use alternative options for bathrooms such as the court, filling stations and recreation centre across the road from the station.
“Personnel are requested ‘Not to Use’ any of the toilets or bathrooms at the station until water supply has been restored as this will cause blockages in the drains that must fixed again,” Wiese added.
This is not the first time a police station has been without water.
In 2017, police officers in a North West village had to go to a nearby bush to answer the call of nature.
This was after their rented station, 20km from Mahikeng, was without water for over two months after water pumps burst.
The DA in Limpopo last year said it would speak to the MEC for Transport and Community Safety, Florence Radzilani, to request an urgent infrastructure audit of all police stations and police barracks across the province.
The party said oversights at the Mototema and Masemola police stations exposed that the South African Police Service (SAPS) faced serious challenges to protect and serve communities.
It said the challenges at Mototema included the lack of a safe-room to store dockets, office accommodation was in poor condition, and more than five detectives were cramped in one office. The entire police station building was dilapidated and there was not a borehole to provide the station with water.
The party also added that Masemola police station had been without electricity since December 2022. It said the barracks at Masemola had no water or electricity.
The Tshilwavhusiku police station in Limpopo has been without running water since 2020 and as a result, police officers fetched water from taps outside the building in order to flush the toilets.