Analysts back police appointment process

It will create ‘pool of more capable candidates to lead SAPS’

ANALYSTS have come out in support of Parliament’s proposal to review the appointment of the national police commissioner and said the new process will produce a pool of more capable candidates to lead the police.

Johan Burger of the Institute for Security Studies and Professor Dirk Kotze of Unisa said yesterday that the proposal by Parliament would put to a stop to the old process whereby the president used his discretion to appoint the head of the police.

The portfolio committee on police said it wanted the Civilian Secretariat for Police to develop a policy on the appointment of the national commissioner.

It called for a system in which the president appointed a panel to recommend candidates for the position.

In a clear departure from the current system, where the president uses his discretion to appoint the police boss, the committee said the new system was in line with the National Development Plan.

Burger said the proposal would limit the use of the discretion by the president.

“It goes beyond the criteria. It says individuals should apply for the position. It means the position should be advertised, and the panel will evaluate the applications, compile a shortlist and make recommendations to the president,” he said.

Burger said the NDP had recommended this transparent process on the appointment of the national commissioner.

He said this was similar to when judges are selected by the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), where they go through a gruelling interviewing process.

“If we had followed the recommendations in the NDP, we could have avoided a lot of unpleasantness in the police,” he said.

Successive police commissioners have been embroiled in one controversy or the other, and did not finish their terms of office.

Kotze said this was a step in the right direction by Parliament.

He said the proposal was in line with how other senior appointments were made in government and other entities.

He said the judges were grilled in the JSC and the same applied to candidates for the positions on the board at the SABC and the public protector.

They face panels in Parliament where they are asked tough questions and their history is checked.

Kotze said the proposal would open a pool of candidates who would qualify for the job. “It will be more candidates in the pipeline, unlike now where the president identifies one person and there is no choice.”

But the new process would allow the panel to look at the level of expertise and experience available to pick the right candidate for the position.