SA Police lose more than 300 officers a month to retirement – Cele

Addressing members of Parliament at a Police committee meeting on Thursday, Minister Bheki Cele raised concern over the number of officers leaving the force.

Cele said he approves more than 300 retirements every month, adding up to nearly 10 000 officers over the past four years.

Police skills shortage in SA

Losing too many officers ‘in short succession’

Officers nearing retirement have more than 30 years of experience, and since they are “leaving SAPS in short succession”, the skills gap is growing.

He said those officers, the ones aged between 55 and 63 are the “creme, the experienced people. The detectives, the people you always talk about”.

“They are going home. And if we could, we would give them all the money we have.” The experience shortage also extends to the officers in the field.

Not enough resources, new recruits

A decade ago, the police-to-population ratio was one to 220. It’s doubled since then and will continue growing as there is no increase in resources.

Cele said Saps’ current capability “requires substantial, additional resources”, adding that the “continuous prioritisation of resources is a requirement to address” SA’s most critical needs.

Moreover, these budget constraints meant only 15 000 new recruits could be trained over the coming three years – nowhere near enough to replace the experience lost over the past four years.

Furthermore, Cele said Saps “workforce has aged significantly, with a reduction of more than 30 000 within the age group of 39 years or younger”.

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Police visibility and crime levels

The lack of police visibility, in turn, not only leaves the existing officers “overstretched and working 12-hour shifts”, but also seeps through to the country’s crime levels.

Opposition parties – particularly the ACDP, EFF and Freedom Front Plus – expressed concern about Saps’ ability to fight crime.

“If this is the crime level, what will it look like with so many seniors going into retirement? It is a great concern, I believe if we are serious about fighting crime, we can negotiate with seniors who can be able to work longer”.

“We need more boots on the ground and not less. Bheki Cele must ensure training of such nature that people can learn from experienced members.”

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Crime to increase

Opposition parties said the amount of experience lost will be detrimental to the fight against crime if the police ministry doesn’t come up with a solution.

Speaking to SABC News, Institute for Security Studies consultant David Bruce said Saps is in this predicament because it doesn’t have a recruitment plan for skills transfer.

“Managing the impact of retirement should be a normal part of HR management… Some of those leaving with huge amount of experience, but also not given the motivation for retaining those retiring, shouldn’t retain all, but some,” Bruce said.

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