E Cape cops take to 'Spiders'

2003-08-23 15:35

Johannesburg - The Eastern Cape police are to get 15 specially made vehicles to help them fight crime in the deep rural areas of the province.

European Union ambassador Michael Lake will hand over the Uri off-road vehicles to Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula in Bisho on Monday.

The Uri - the Nama word for "jump" - was invented by Namibian Ewert Smit. He spent more than 30 years designing a farm vehicle suitable for extremely rough terrain.

Senior Superintendent Marinda Mills said on Saturday the Uri was a highly reliable 4x4-type vehicle, which looked like a spider.

She said it cost less than a 4x4, had low maintenance costs and could go anywhere - up mountains, down dunes or through snow.

The vehicles, valued at more than R2m, were sponsored by the European Union in terms of a programme to help policing in the Eastern Cape.

"The police in the Eastern Cape are challenged in terms of delivering a service to the deep rural areas in our province, especially in the Drakensberg and Umtata areas," said Eastern Cape provincial commissioner Sipho Mpongoma.

"Our vehicles simply do not last and maintenance costs on vehicles servicing these areas became extremely high. Even the use of standard 4x4 vehicles was becoming problematic.

"The Uri proved to be the answer to our predicament and the introduction of these vehicles will help us to deliver a service to people who have been deprived of a prompt and effective service," said Mpongoma.

- SAPA