Shedding some light on Police Minister’s meeting
On March 18 Police Minister Gen Bheki Cele summoned every police station commander in the country to an urgent meeting at the SAPS headquarters in Pretoria for a briefing.
On March 19 Vosloorus Police Station commander Brig Themba Denge invited Kathorus MAIL to a media briefing regarding the meeting.
Confirming the urgent gathering of the country’s top police commanders in Pretoria, Denge described the meeting with Cele as a turning point for police officers whose appraisal and recommendations for upgrades and promotion will be measured by their effective performance in policing and eradicating crime in their communities.
The meeting lasted almost the entire day, was held behind closed doors and the media was not invited.
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Denge said the promotion of ranked and unranked officers was among the main topics on the agenda at their meeting with Cele. He explained this has become a serious national bone of contention among many members of the SAPS.
Denge said some officers within the SAPS feel the existing system of promotion in the police has been compromised and, as a result, it has deprived many deserving officers the opportunity to rise through the ranks.
He further explained the process will in future be changed to involve members of the communities where servicing police officers are based. Officers’ investigation cases will in future be measured and judged by their ability to conclusively affect arrests and secure convictions. A constant trend, improvement and how often these achievements are gained will obviously place such an officer in good standing in the community as the result of his or her work will be seen and judged by the people they serve, as well as the area’s station commander.
Denge said he believed the new upgrading and rank promotion system will be seen by all as fair and transparent.
“The system remains transparent and fair and the results of his or her achievements can only be based on visible results of the work,” Denge said.
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The results of a police officer’s investigation skills and achievements can be used to measure and motivate his appraisal, promotion or even demotion. Denge explained the SAPS’s new directive is for the SAPS to shed its tainted promotion processes and showcase a user-friendly community policing service.
The process will also deal with the backlog of 69 000 SAPS officers whose service still have to be verified, as well the rank and the reason for the lack of promotion.
The Vosloorus SAPS head added the new system which will soon be implemented and applied across all sectors at all police stations. Members of all SAPS specialised units will also undergo the same process, which will help station commanders to implement and monitor the process at their respective stations.
The issue of salary levels, starting from constables and warrant officers up to sergeants, were some of the numerous issues tabled and discussed at the meeting. According to Denge, the police grading system will also include members of specialised units.
Denge told Kathorus MAIL there are already 34 000 officers nationally who are earmarked for the process, which will include regrading, job specification identification and further training. Members of the tactical response teams, specialised task force units, emergency units, public order policing units and airborne units.
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The approval for the implementation of the new system is already in place and Cele is said to have given station commanders two years to get the process to be up and running.
Denge said the next step would be for the State Treasury to give the proposal the go-ahead once Cele has presented it to Parliament.
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