Policing an impossible burden – Popcru

The union representing most of the country’s police has called tackling crime in South Africa an impossible burden.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) said following the release of the annual crime statistics on Tuesday that there simply were not enough resources to protect the country’s citizens.

“Considering that the SAPS [comprises] 191‚000 police officials – a significant proportion of [whom] are in bloated national and provincial managerial offices – who have to keep a growing population of 57 million [safe]‚ it has become an impossible burden to tackle crime,” spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said.

He said police officers were stressed and morale was low.

The national commissioner aimed to recruit 7,000 trainees a year.

However, Mamabolo said: “We know that senior government officials have been flirting with the idea of cutting down public service jobs‚ with claims that the public wage bill was too high.

“This real threat to jobs has seen the demoralisation of many in the public service.”

Releasing the crime figures in Cape Town‚ police minister Bheki Cele made the shock admission that the SA Police Service had substantially reduced its personnel.

“We are 10‚000 police fewer than last year‚” he said.

“We have lost the United Nations norm of policing, which [calls for] one policeman to 220 citizens.”

The figure was now almost one to 440.

Mamabolo said: “[This] demonstrates the shortfall.”

There was nothing new in the crime figures, he said.

One alarming statistic the union highlighted was a daily average of 57 murders. This raised questions about the number of guns on the streets.

About 1.6-million of the 2.1 million crimes in 2017/2018 had been reported by citizens to the police, he said. However only about 434‚000 were recorded. –