Our police need policing

One has to wonder if the South African Police Service (SAPS) recruits out of sheer desperation and has no measurement tools for those they put into uniform, arm and trust to mete out the law.

The SAPS is meant to “uphold and enforce the law, create a safe and secure environment for all people in South Africa”. So when social media is littered with police officers drunk on duty, shoplifting and even robberies and murder, it leaves me wondering: who protects us from the men and women in blue?

Surely the number of incidents that involve the people they employ should embarrass the top crop of the SAPS into action.

What is the bar that has been set for employment for this essential service? How in-depth are the competency assessments, behavioural and criminal checks? Surely, a major overhaul is needed, but to what end is the public left at the mercy of people whose competency is indeed questionable?

The Nathaniel Julies murder reeked of the inadequacies of the men and women in blue – their inability to approach situations with reason and know-how. The Cape wars that led to immeasurable blood loss was fuelled by a supply of guns from an ex-colonel of the SAPS.

Many women report crimes of rape and domestic violence involving police officers and women fill courts seeking child maintenance from uniformed officers who have failed in their responsibility to their children. This is evidence enough of the blatant manner in which officers contravene the law they are meant to uphold – but for how long?

The best example is that of Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli, a former crime intelligence boss who milked the system. While Mdluli and company were found guilty of kidnapping, common assault and assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and sentenced to five years imprisonment, Mdluli has other crimes to answer for relating to looting of the police’s secret fund.

We cannot only be embarrassed by our weakened judiciary, exposed by the likes of Shepherd Bushiri and Radovan Krejčíř. We should also be very upset by some of those in the SAPS uniform and their superiors who fail to act against them.

But, after all, it’s a tall order to expect criminals to police themselves…

Kekeletso Nakeli-Dhliwayo.

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