Acting Police Commissioner must restore the integrity of SAPS
The suspension of Riah Phiyega has put the spotlight on the urgent need for the new Acting Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Khomotso Phahlane, to refocus the priorities of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to get it on track to fulfil its mandate of addressing crime in communities.
SAPS is currently defined by an inability to clamp down on the increase of crime in our society, corruption within the organisation and its institutional inefficiency. The tenure of the Acting Police Commissioner will be measured against the degree to which SAPS reduces crime and makes an improvement in its organisational culture and performance. It is imperative that SAPS restores its focus to its apex priority of stopping crime that affects millions of South Africans and kills on average 49 of us each day.
For SAPS to become a police service that South Africans can trust, the DA believes the Acting Police Commissioner should prioritise the following as a matter of urgency:
- Reduce Crime. The most recent crime statistics painted a grim picture with serious crimes having increased. The murder rate increased by 4.6%, attempted murder is up by 3.2%, aggravated robbery is up by 8.5%, car hijackings by 14.2% and truck hijackings is up by almost 30%.
- Spend budget appropriately. The Acting Commissioner will need to put a firm hand on the tiller of the SAPS so that it can become more efficient, effective and professional. This will improve its performance to reduce crime and ensure greater safety in our communities. The multi-billion rand budget should be spent on recruiting, training and resourcing police officers so that they may properly combat crime.
- Fill station-level vacancies within SAPS urgently. The 2014/15 SAPS Annual Report showed that there are 4318 vacancies within SAPS and many stations have unfilled posts. Adequate resources and staff will equip police stations to run better operationally to benefit ordinary citizens on the ground.
- Ensure that SAPS members receive adequate training. SAPS members should be trained to meet best-practice standards and officers consistently need to undergo refresher skills training, fitness tests and have their performance monitored.
- Re-establish specialised crime units shutdown by Selebi. A look at 21st century international best-practice policing methodologies shows that this is crucial if we are to win the war on particular areas of crime, like gang violence, that have seized various South African communities across the country.
- Address the persistent decline of the Crime Intelligence division that has made our police officers susceptible to attack and murder, as shown by the recent spate of killings this year, and ensure that xenophobic violence is nipped in the bud before it reaches crisis proportions.
Additionally, Acting Commissioner Phahlane must resolutely initiate the demilitarisation of the SAPS, as the lack of progress in this regard in part contributed to the Marikana massacre.
As a caretaker Police Commissioner, he must lay a good foundation for whoever would follow as a permanent appointment in the position. He should implement all the necessary measures to address the systemic decline of the SAPS, restore its integrity and help it start making a turnaround into the robust crime-fighting agency that South Africans deserve.
The DA is committed to ensuring that President Zuma ultimately appoints a long-serving, experienced and knowledgeable career officer as Police Commissioner who will take the safety of South Africans seriously.
Despite his reported links to dubious ANC cadres, Phahlane has his work cut out for him and we will be watching that the Selebi, Cele and Phiyega-era politicisation of the SAPS does not persist for more years to come.
Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 16 October 2015
