The new Police Act may make provision for public participation, but the effectiveness of this community policing is questionable in a still white-dominated police force, argues Pule
CURRENT debates and discussions around crime and policing in South Africa tend to focus on the inability of the newly-elected democratic government to curb crime and the incompetence of the police to deal with it effectively. While these debates and discussions should be encouraged, they are disappointingly narrow and vague. They assume that the police services are committed to the present political dispensation and are, therefore, legitimate and representative of the South African populace.
The old South African Police’s promotion system has always been discriminatory against blacks, who constituted 60 percent of the SAP. In 1994 all senior positions in the SAP were occupied by whites, with the exception of just five percent of senior positions, occupied by blacks.
This led to a concentration of police resources in white areas. Official estimates suggest that 80 percent of police resources are still concentrated in white suburbs and city centres, while coloured and Indian areas are policed by 12 percent — with Africans receiving the remaining eight percent.
For people to believe that an institution is legitimate, it is not sufficient for that institution only to change ranks, symbols and names.
The institution must be perceived as representative: that command echelons are not all white, certain regional interests are not dominant in its structures and its commanding personnel are not ethnically exclusive in origin. Unlike other state institutions, the transformation and restructuring of the police services has been carried out in secrecy and isolation from the societal conditions within which the institution should operate.
The process of transforming the police services has been managed by technical teams, which consisted mostly of police officers, with little civilian input and participation. While written and oral submissions were invited from all interested organisations and individuals with regard to the Police Act, little public discussion ever took place.
The new Police Act has been received with great support from police quarters and the Ministry of Safety and Security, who claim that the Act gives ordinary people more powers over the police. The Act makes provision for public participation in policing matters through community police forums and a civilian
Community police forums are legitimate structures for ensuring community participation and input in police issues. However, one of the major stumbling blocks to effective community policing is that in some areas — KwaZulu- Natal, the Western and Eastern Cape — community police forums are being formed and dominated by police officers who simply go to the community and appoint anyone they like to serve on the forum.
It is regrettable that this Police Act puts the responsibility for community police forums under national and provincial police commissioners. This legitimises and encourages police to continue forming community police forums, thus relegating community members on the forum to “voting cattle”.
While community policing entails a “community- police partnership” based on mutual trust and equality, given the legacy of apartheid, communities do not have access to information, resources and knowledge of the institution which is supposed to police them. The lack of knowledge with regard to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the criminal justice system further limits the extent to which communities are able to transform the police. Instead, the police, who have state resources and a viable infrastructure, tend to direct the community policing process.
The Act provides for a civilian secretariat. One of its key functions is to advise the Ministry of Safety and Security on issues of policy. However, the success of this critical civilian structure will depend entirely on its composition, on whether it is perceived to be representative and legitimate by the majority of South Africans. Unfortunately, some key senior positions within this civilian body have already been occupied by non-blacks.
There are three critical factors which make the transformation of the police so critical.
l Firstly, on a symbolic level, any liberation movement that has won elections and becomes the government of the day would like to be seen as liberated from the institutions of its predecessor. An integral part of the symbols of independence and power is the visible presence and representation of the ruling party’s core constituency in key police structures. Blacks constitute the core constituency of the present ruling party and yet they are not represented in the high echelons of the police services.
l Secondly, on an economic level, the provision of employment for disadvantaged groups is an important factor. These groups should be encouraged to join the service.
l Thirdly, on a political level, the security forces were perceived to be strongly partisan. Much power and patronage were associated with them, primarily as a result of their strong links with the National Party. Therefore, the focus should be to make security forces more representative of South African society.
While one appreciates that crime and policing are of central concern to the South African citizenry, equal emphasis and pressure should be exerted in ensuring that the police service reflects the diversity of South African society. How can the majority of the South African population identify themselves with a police service which does not reflect their culture, opinions and values? How can they participate in community police forums when they are not represented in the higher echelons of the police service? How can they assist the police in combating crime when their interests are not being catered for? What kind of a South Africa are we trying to create when police resources are still concentrated in white areas and suburbs?
These are some of the questions which the current debate around crime and policing tend to miss. Democracies developing after a long period of racial and autocratic rule need a police service which not only provides safety and security, but is willing to heal scars inflicted by past experiences. The police service cannot serve this democratic order when historical imbalances are still not being adequately addressed.
Pule Zwane, an independent security consultant, is provincial coordinator of the Community Policing Network in KwaZulu-Natal