South African police commit to increasing personnel to combat rising crime

The country's safety lies in the hands of unqualified politicians who claim to be experts in the field of safety and security in our country, remarked Aidan David, the chairperson of the eThekwini district policing board. 

David was commenting on Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu's discussions around human resources management issues in Pretoria on Friday. 

Mchunu said the Ministry received an elaborate orientation from the SAPS top management, taking stock of the portfolio, various programmes aimed at fighting crime, as well as the SAPS organogram, which had several shortcomings. 

He stated that the recent crime statistics indicate a decrease in the number of crimes, but the sentiments expressed by citizens, which he agreed with, are that the crime levels in the country are far too high. 

Murder, the proliferation of illegal firearms, and drug trafficking are but a few of the critical crimes the SAPS has prioritised.

Mchunu stated that they have identified several critical enablers to support and strengthen the fight against crime. These include:

• The adoption and improvement of technology.
• The strengthening of Crime Intelligence.
• Capacitating and upskilling our detectives.
• The expansion and upgrading of forensic services.
• Improving our fleet management and infrastructure.
• Enhancing the overall working environment for police officers.

“To give full effect to these enablers, we have engaged SAPS top management and organised labour on proposed changes to the organisational structure. All the necessary consultation processes have been finalised within the safety and security sectoral bargaining council,” he said. 

The changes to be implemented include:

• The Visible Policing Division has been restructured into two separate divisions: Visible Policing and Operational Response Services.
• Detective and Forensic Services will be split into two distinct divisions: Detective Services and Forensic Services.

Mchunu said the SAPS and the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime are currently running a pilot project at the Grassy Park police station in the Western Cape, where a dedicated legal professional has been placed on site to assist with case development, statement taking, and legal support.

“This project has yielded promising results and serves as a critical turning point in our fight against organised crime and gang violence. We are looking to expand the project nationwide. The current backlog experienced in the promotion of members is also being addressed.

“We note with concern that there are members of the SAPS who persist in engaging in corrupt activities as evidenced by the 392 dismissals in the previous financial year; the number is significantly lower in this financial year,” he said. 

David stated that as long as President Cyril Ramaphosa appoints comrades instead of qualified police officials, crime will continue to spiral out of control.

“All these speeches have become generic jargon from the past, and still the politicians who unfortunately are the powerhouse of decision makers do not have the qualifications to decide and neither do they consult with the community via the Community Policing Forum structures to make a correct decision in keeping our communities safe,” David said.  

He was concerned that there are no meritorious promotions done at all in the SAPS, and he felt that at the SAPS, everything is about contacts and comrades, which David hoped would change. 

General Fannie Masemola, the national commissioner of police, stated they remain hard at work and in the past three years, the SAPS has added 30,393 more boots on the ground.

According to Masemola, additional detectives will also be deployed to the top 30 high contact crime police stations - these are stations that are experiencing high levels of contact crimes such as murder, attempted murder, rape, GBVF, and assault cases. 

zainul.dawood@inl.co.za