Lack of support cited for mental health crisis in Saps

A lack of psychological support for Saps members is said to be contributing to the rise in crimes committed by police officers.

This is according to Tumelo Mogodiseng, the secretary-general of the South African Policing Union (Sapu), who said an alarming number of law enforcement professionals are not making use of counselling facilities, which is contributing to the increase in crime within the force.

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An upward trend of criminal cases involving police officers in the province has put the spotlight on the psychological wellbeing of SAPS members, which is exacerbated by a lack of support to deal with the traumas they encounter daily.

Last month the high court sentenced a Pietermaritzburg police officer to 30 years imprisonment for murdering his partner and friend earlier in January.

This is the most recent in a number of cases. Last year, a Durban police officer was arrested for allegedly shooting and killing two women he was romantically involved with.

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He was found dead in his police cell. In 2021, a Mountain Rise police officer was arrested after allegedly killing his fiancé.

Police officers face repeated exposure to trauma, incidents at crime scenes, suicide, child abuse, shootings and more on a daily basis. Mogodiseng said the constant exposure to these scenes, without getting professional help to deal with the traumas they are exposed to, is contributing to the rise in the number of police officers succumbing to violent outbursts.

The shortage of social workers specialising in debriefing SAPS unit is the main cause that early this year we are already having cases of police officers committing murder. Our members are neglected by the management, they do not receive the required support, which is no different to creating a recipe for disaster.
Sinikwe Biyela, the executive director of the Life Line organisation said from her experience of assisting many first responders of the SAPS, she has observed that most of them do not get trauma debriefing after they have been exposed to traumatic events, in some cases, even witnessing their colleagues being shot dead.

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She said some officers even suffer from flashbacks without receiving assistance.

It is [seen as ] taboo for SAPS members to suffer mental health issues, along with expectations that SAPS members should be brave and not express their true feelings. SAPS management should schedule a weekly or monthly debriefing sessions with their teams, along with one-on-one sessions for those who value their privacy. Mostly, they should consider to partner with institutions that offer mental health services.
Rob Askew, a retired police officer in Pietermaritzburg, said during his tenure, he was involved in many critical situations which became traumatic at times.

To shift my mind from recalling the traumatic events that I was exposed to, I used to do volunteer work in my spare time, which helped a lot.
Many scholars, including University of Cape Town’s criminology PhD student Gráinne Perkins, have previously blamed mental health issues for the high levels of suicide among local police.

In 2019, the South African Journal of Psychiatry published a study that showed organisational stressors were common in the SA Police Service (SAPS), and that SAPS should think about providing interventions to reduce such stress.

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The study found that depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicidal behaviour were common among police officers who have spent many years in the force.

However, given the stigma associated with mental health issues, police officers are reluctant to seek care for mental health-related concerns.