SAPS 2016 plans – The proof will lie in the pudding
25 January 2016
The DA notes with cautious optimism the statements made yesterday by Police Minister, Nathi Nhleko, and Acting National Police Commissioner, Khomotso Phahlane, at their media briefing on plans for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the coming year.
While they seem to have said the right things, it is well-established that police leadership and management can hardly be accused of a shortage of plans and good intentions.
Over the years numerous reports such as the SAPS Policy Advisory Council Reports, the National Development Plan (NDP), the SAPS National Inspectorate Report and the Report by the Khayelitsha Commission, to name a few, have identified systemic problems within the SAPS with plan upon plan to address the training and resourcing needs of the SAPS with very few targets being met.
The identified issues range from under-resourcing to poor management to the need for the re-establishment of the specialised police units which were disbanded by then Police Commissioner, Jackie Selebi. The plethora of reports also made recommendations on how the identified deficiencies could be corrected to ensure a more effective and efficient SAPS. Yet these recommendations have yet to be implemented. Therefore when we hear of yet another report in the pipeline, we have every right to be skeptical at best.
There seems to be very little will from the top brass of the SAPS and the Ministry to implement strategies to turn the SAPS around and to ensure they are able to turn the tide on crime that plagues the lives of ordinary South Africans daily.
The fact that Minister Nhleko announced an expected finalisation of policy documents on the demilitarisation and professionalisation of the police service only by the end of this year is a stark demonstration of this. These matters were specifically identified as priorities for the SAPS by the National Development Plan (NDP) in 2013 but, unsurprisingly, a roadmap for making these priorities a concrete reality has not been implemented.
The DA will watch closely to see whether or not these plans are reflected comprehensively in both the Annual Performance Plan and the budget of the SAPS for the 2016/17 financial year when these are tabled before the Police Portfolio Committee.
That will be the only proof that these matters are being taken seriously, backed by adequate resource provisioning and integrated into the operational planning of the department so that progress can be tracked, monitored and evaluated.
Without this tangible proof that there is substance to these plans, all the upbeat talk about going back-to-basics and improving visible policing as well as the detective services will show itself to be little more than hot air spouted in a PR exercise.
Instead, we will know that we can expect more of business-as-usual and the continued chronic stagnation of a SAPS that is under-staffed, under-resourced and under-equipped.
Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 25 January 2016
