Law enforcers turn lawbreakers in EMPD overtime dispute

Anarchy is defined in the dictionary as “a state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority or other controlling systems”.

In most countries, the police would be called to restore order.

In South Africa, though, the police themselves can be the cause of the chaos.

That was the case yesterday as thousands of outraged motorists were forced to a crawl or stopped completely on the East Rand as disgruntled cops from the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department decided that anarchy was the best way to press their demands to have their overtime payments continued.

The municipality, which has been in a perpetual crash crisis seemingly from time immemorial, has been trying to save some money.

And, logically, it made sense, because cops in the city are being paid for an average of two hours’ overtime a day.

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Residents will tell you that results of that sort of expenditure are not readily visible on the streets of the city which is plagued, like the rest of Gauteng, by uncontrolled intersections when traffic lights fail and a host of moving violations by motorists.

At the outset, then, we don’t think the protesting cops have a case – other than a desire to pad their salaries.

However, even if there was merit in their grievances, using ratepayer-funded vehicles and time to break the law – and, in effect, practice a form of terrorism – was something which gave a putrid finger to the rule of law.

Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis was almost gloating when he said that this would never happen in his city and that, if it did, all the protesters would be fired.

That will never happen up here – we all know that. And we know why.

These cops work in a city and a province where lawlessness and lack of consequences are the norm.

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