Sitole leaving Saps not enough to address policing challenges – Popcru

News of National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole’s resignation, after a mutual agreement with President Cyril Ramaphosa, has exposed the sheer amount of work required to bring stability to the South African Police Service (Saps). 

This is according to a statement released by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), which emphasised the internal need to prevent any future efforts to delegitimise the state, security cluster, and the country’s democratic system. 

However, “the removal of individual personalities is on its own is not a sufficient enough remedy in adequately addressing the deep-rooted challenges faced by policing in South Africa”, Popcru said. 

Sitole serves his last day on 31 March. 

ALSO READ: National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole steps down

No real success 

The termination of Sitole’s contract is, for Popcru, “water under the bridge”.

What is concerning is a trend the union says has emerged in the country’s post-democratic national police commissioners, notably the lack of “tangible successes”. 

Since 2000, seven national police commissioners have been appointed, with six of them serving since 2009. Two held the position on an acting basis. 

“This has had far-reaching consequences for the Saps in its entirety and has demonstrated the instability of an organisation that is to this day in the midst of a wider crisis.” 

ALSO READ: Calls mount for Ramaphosa to fire Bheki Cele following Sitole’s axing

Strategic Plan not working 

It is two years into Saps’ five-year Strategic Plan, aimed at creating a crime-free environment to bolster economic growth and investment, and tangible results are yet to be seen, said Popcru. 

The reason for the lack of implementation, whether due to staff shortages or lack of resources, is inconsequential, the union added, “because there has not been any demonstration to adapt with the available resources, as recently demonstrated by the underspending on public order policing and detectives.” 

Popcru said the Saps leadership is not merely about occupying a high office or rank, but about leadership, motivating staff, and improving service delivery. 

ALSO READ: Police didn’t have capacity to deal with July unrest, Khehla Sitole tells SAHRC hearing

Those with positions at managerial levels “preoccupied with matters unrelated to the set of objectives” therefore harms the role Saps is meant to play in South Africa’s transformation process. 

“There is a dire need for a skills audit within the Saps managerial positions,” Popcru said. This, the union said, would identify gaps that will assist in taking the work of Saps to “greater heights”. 

Popcru also called on the criminal justice cluster to work together on crime statistics. It wants it to work with police on arrest numbers, with the judiciary when looking at prosecution figures, and with the Department of Correctional Services when accounting on the number of incarcerations and rehabilitation programmes. 

“This should lead to an informed joint budget within the cluster, which will yield improved accountability, as opposed to the current settings where these organs are working in silos.”

NOW READ: Crime stats: Murder rates up, sexual offences down