Police Minister Bheki Cele must account

Dear Minister Cele, South Africans are worried about the state of policing and security. Can you provide some feedback?

Department accommodation Sir, your department spent R7.5 million of taxpayers’ money on accommodation from April 2019 until mid-June 2022.

This equates to R194 466.77 monthly. For this amount, you or another member could have stayed in the Sandton Hilton’s Royal Suite, uninterrupted.

That’s a three-year, two-month and 17- day stint in one of the most luxurious hotel suites in the country. After settling the bill you would still have had R1 934 071.08 left over.

Please tell us how your department could spend this huge sum? Was any of the R813 942.59 spent on your 2021 Turkey trip included in this figure? Your department spent almost triple on accommodation compared to the average police station.

Official 2019-20 figures indicate there were then 1 154 police stations and your figures show that the remainder of the SA Police Service (Saps) spent about R1.5 billion over that period.

That’s about R2 200 per police station daily – your department spent R6 388.42. Murder rate You’ve commented on the country’s murder rate: “The number of murders in this country remains high and worrisome. About 6 424 people were killed in the first quarter of the 2022-2023 financial year.

This is an increase of 664 more people murdered, compared to the same period last year…” “Worrisome” is an under- statement, sir.

An 11.53% in- crease in homicides over a single year isn’t merely “worrisome”, it is devastating. Statista.com shows SA has the world’s eighth- highest murder rate in 2022.

Metaphorically, minister, blood is on your hands. A fully functional Saps would clearly mean fewer murders but our policing isn’t at that point though, is it?

Statistically, from April to June 2020, 63 murders took place daily. In 2022, 70 murders per day happened over the same period. What will 2023 bring? You need to reverse the murder escalation, sir.

It’s hard to predict fewer murders with a lower visible policing budget in 2022 than 2021’s. Now, South Africa has fewer visible Saps members and many vehicles aren’t operational.

Budgets and personnel Did it make sense to decrease the visible policing budget? This budget has decreased Saps numbers substantially.

The current crime rate, and more predicted personnel reductions, mean further questions about service delivery will be raised. Since 2011-12, Saps personnel has fallen from almost 200 000 members to about 163 000 in 2023-24 – an 18% reduction.

Crime is increasing and such re- ductions will add risks and psychological pressure on the brave members assigned to protect us.

Greater risks and pressure means recruiting personnel at salaries of between R8 500 and R17 000 monthly will be difficult. Further Saps reductions will mean slower police reaction times and increased chances of becoming a crime victim.

“The number of personnel was expected to decrease from 181 344 in 2020-21 to 162 945 in 2023-24, due to natural attrition. Given the significant impact of the reductions on [the] compensation of employees, noncritical vacant posts will not be filled,” the government stated.

Please explain what “noncritcal” posts are. The Saps budget grew by R225 million in 2022, despite not filling “noncritical vacant posts”, but the visible policing budget was reduced.

Fewer “noncritical” posts should mean a lesser “nonritical” budget, shouldn’t it? Couldn’t the visible policing budget then be increased to allow for further “critical personnel? This seems logical.

Police vehicles In August, you said a vehicle shortage was hindering efforts to tighten policing and improve response times.

This excuse creates public uncertainty about whether you can do your job. The buck stops with you. You stated in February that 1 169 vehicles were out of service in Gauteng.

In March, Peggy Nkonyeni said that 1 716 police vehicles out of 4 227 in KwaZulu-Natal were being re- paired, meaning that 40.6% of the total police vehicles were nonfunctional.

Your August comment shows nothing’s changed. The Saps can’t do its job because the vehicles you provide are nonfunctional. It’s time to stop making excuses and find solutions.

Improvement or change Sir, we need solutions. You are responsible for the extravagant spending and your input affects the budget allocations.

Saps reductions are a real concern and nonfunctional vehicles aren’t excuses, they’re symptoms. Please stop shifting blame.

Crime needs to be reduced. The time for telling concerned citizens to “shut up” is over, sir. If you can’t or won’t find solutions, Minister, perhaps allow somebody else to try? Yours in anticipation…

-Potter is a freelance journalist and author

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