Charge state capture crooks now, Popcru calls on NPA

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) is calling for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to charge those implicated in the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, saying failure to do so will dent the credibility of the entire criminal justice system.

Popcru, which represents employees in the justice cluster, said if those implicated were not prosecuted, it would create an impression that the criminal justice system was not as independent as it should be.

Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said: “Society has been looking to the commission to deal with the high levels of corruption within the government corporate sector.

“The fact that the NPA has not started with prosecutions after a year since the commission began creates an impression of a non-independent justice system and we are losing people’s trust.”

Action needed to be taken to make politicians accountable.

NPA national spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke said the process followed by the commission was different from a criminal trial. The NPA needed to thoroughly carry out investigations with substantial evidence for prosecutions to take place.

She said the NPA relied on the police to start criminal investigations, based on allegations made, in order for them to start the court prosecuting processes.

“The NPA is at the end of the prosecution processes. We cannot prosecute without any criminal investigation,” she said.

Popcru recently held its ninth national congress in Durban, where a number of issues affecting the cluster were discussed.

An issue raised by delegates was that there were not enough police officers on the ground.

The union asked Police Minister Bheki Cele to deploy police management officials to the streets, rather than have them sit in national and provincial offices where they duplicated management roles.

Mamabolo said there were about 42,000 of 190,000 police officers occupying managerial positions and some were duplicated, suppressing the effectiveness of the South African Police Service (SAPS).

He said SAPS did not have enough police officers on the ground to deal with escalating crime levels so the redeployment of at least 42,000 managers to the streets should be considered.

“Police [officers] on the ground receive different mandates from different officials that results in confusion and this affects [their] effectiveness,” Mamabolo said.

The need for regular police training was the top resolution agreed at the congress.

Mamabolo said it was important for police to be one step ahead of criminals. However, they lacked skills in dealing with highly trained criminals.

Mamabolo said: “There is no way criminals do not know what police are trained on, therefore we need to regularly update our techniques and skills.

“Crimes such as cybercrimes … we need to get more training to deal with them.

“We need regular training in knowing how to deal with sensitive cases such as rape.

“It is no secret that [the public] has been crying over our members’ negligence. We are requesting regular training [so] members know how to deal with criminal issues affecting society today.”

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