Police set to meet union over English
TRADE union Solidarity and the SAPS in the Northern Cape are expected to meet to discuss a controversial instruction by the provincial police commissioner that police officials in the Province take down all statements in English.
Solidarity earlier this month applied for a motion in the Northern Cape High Court ordering the review and setting aside of the decision by Northern Cape Police Commissioner, Lieutenant-General Risimati Peter Shivuri, to adopt English as the only language in which statements are to be taken by police officials in the Province.
The respondents are called to show reasons why the provincial directive and the decision to adopt it should not be reviewed and set aside, as well as dispatching, within 15 days after receipt of the notice, dated June 2 2017, to the registrar of the Northern Cape High Court, the records of the decision to adopt the provincial directive, together with reasons for these decisions.
According to Anton van der Bijl, head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, the trade union’s application is calling for the instruction to be set aside based on the fact that it is in conflict with the police’s own language policy as well as with the constitution.
“We submit this application based on the irrationality of the decision and also on the grounds of it being impractical.
“According to Statistics South Africa 53.8 percent of the Northern Cape population prefers Afrikaans as first language, while 33 percent of the population is Tswana speaking. Only 3.4 percent of the population is English speaking. From a practical point of view, the use of English as language medium in the Northern Cape does not make sense,” Van der Bijl said.
He added that “this is once again an example of an impractical and irrational decision taken without regard to the public”.
Shocking
“It is frankly quite shocking that the decision was taken without considering its practical effects and feasibility.
“We are now facing a situation where the public will not receive proper services and one in which members of the police will find themselves in the unenviable position of having to act as interpreters without having the necessary qualifications and competencies. The possibility of mistakes creeping into statements becomes all the more likely.”
Van der Bijl said earlier this week that the SAPS had indicated that it would be meeting and interacting with Solidarity regarding the issue.
Meanwhile, the Afrikaanse Taalraad (Afrikaans Language Board) added that the new language policy of the SAPS in a region like the Northern Cape was “not sustainable and would impair service delivery”.
This is according to Conrad Steenkamp, CEO of the Afrikaanse Taalraad (ATR).
“We call on the SAPS to resolve the dispute arising from the policy by way of discussion and consultation.”
According to Ria Olivier, ATR programme manager, the policy would drive a wedge between the communities and the SAPS.
“The police cannot provide a good service to the community if they do not use the community’s language. The police’s own work will also suffer as a result.
“Not just any bilingual person can make translations and statements made in this way will be unreliable and stunt court cases.”
Steenkamp added that the SAPS’s language decision in the Northern Cape unfortunately formed part of a wider pattern that went far beyond Afrikaans.
“The state’s move towards English falls unconsciously back to British colonial ideas about language and the control of subservient populations. The late Neville Alexander had already said in the 1990s that multilingualism is a prerequisite for democracy in South Africa,” Steenkamp said, adding that the ATR hoped to be able to talk to the Northern Cape SAPS on the new language policy soon.