SAPS ‘promotes hundreds based on political affiliation’

The South African Police Service (SAPS) has been secretly promoting hundreds of unqualified and inexperienced police officers into management positions based on their political affiliation, which accelerates the SAPS management crisis and the lack of public confidence in the body.

According to Dr Johan Burger from the Institute of Security Studies (ISS), the SAPS is promoting 600 people into management positions not necessarily because they have the skills or experience but primarily because of their political affiliation.

“According to the plan, most will jump a number of ranks and be propelled into top positions without the many years of experience needed to become an effective commander,” said Burger.

He said the possible implications of the move were extremely worrying because it was in direct conflict with the recommendations of government’s National Development Plan (NDP), visualising the police as “well-resourced and professional, staffed by highly skilled officers”.

“It is also likely to seriously undermine the morale of many hard-working and professional officers who deserve promotion but may instead end up reporting to commanders with inadequate management ability,” he said.

Burger said using politics and personal benefits rather than ability to award promotions was a recipe for disaster because the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) was currently investigating at least 24 cases, including murder, torture, corruption, fraud and others, allegedly committed by high-ranking police officers, including brigadiers and generals.

“The Non-Statutory Forces (NSF) project was first mentioned in a parliamentary speech in 2014 by then deputy police minister Maggie Sotyu,” said Burger. “Non-statutory forces is the term used for the armed forces of the former liberation organisations such as uMkhonto we Sizwe and the Azanian People’s Liberation Army.

“At the time, Sotyu claimed that ‘for more than 18 years, we erred in remedying the injustices and discrimination exercised against our members of former non-statutory forces integrated within the SAPS’. This, she said, contrasted with the ‘correct’ integration of NSF members in other security departments such as the military and the state security agency.

“In 2015, former police minister Nathi Nhleko approved administrative instruction 7/2015 that officially established the SAPS Non-Statutory Forces (NSF) re-ranking committee.

“Its aim was to provide a detailed process to be followed whereby former NSF members’ ranks would be reviewed and members re-ranked and placed in the existing SAPS force design and organisational structure,” he said.

Burger said little information on the project has been made public and the SAPS had tried to keep the details secret.

“Despite some good senior appointments in the SAPS in the past year or two, it seems the crisis at management level is far from over,” he said.

Tumelo Mogodiseng, general-secretary of the South African Policing Union (Sapu) said they were not opposed to transformation in the SAPS but it must be done according to regulations and policies of the SAPS.

“We are told it is a Cabinet decision,” he said.

“However, the correct processes must be followed by the SAPS to make sure policies and regulations within the organisation are upheld,” said Mogodiseng.

The SAPS failed to respond to questions before going to press.

– gcinan@citizen.co.za

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