Angella Johnson and Stuart Hess
Crime fighting in South Africa is being hampered by a 22 479-person staff shortage in the South African Police Service, according to a study carried out by the SAPS.
Research conducted by the police human resources division found that the ideal national headcount for the SAPS to function effectively should be 161 755.
But there is little chance of meeting that optimum figure: a government financial freeze in recruitment means that no new entrants will be enlisted into the SAPS this year. In some provinces there have not been any new recruits since 1994.
“The situation is reaching a critical point. We desperately need new blood, but at the moment we make do as best as possible,” said Johan Deyzel, provincial police commissioner for the Northern Cape.
He would like to see more “bobbies on the beat”, but resources are stretched enough. As it is, he relies on his officers to work overtime to meet the shortfall.
“It’s not good for morale and it is not the best way to use our limited resources, but there is no alternative when we are unable to recruit.”
The area has 85 stations staffed by some 3 670 police officers. “Ideally I need another 800 to deal with the large number of violent knife-related crimes in the area,” said Deyzel.
His was one of several provinces to insist that personnel shortfall was straining the SAPS’s crime- fighting capabilities and hampering attempts to halt the country’s crime scourge.
KwaZulu-Natal communications officer Bala Naidoo described how visiting police officials from the UK usually expressed amazement that there is only one police officer per 445 people.
“We have about 20 000 and we need 26 000. It means our response times are not as quick as they should be, that patrols have to cover huge areas and that in some cases people are not getting the service they should,” said Naidoo.
In North West province, the ratio is one officer to every 630 people.”We are 70% understaffed,” complained director of management Marius Dippenaar.
He argues that there are fewer policemen now than before the 1994 elections. Hardest hit are Joubert police station (39% understaffed) and Klerksdorp police station (45% understaffed).
Gauteng, which shoulders the burden of most of the crimes committed nationwide, estimates that it has one officer per 249 civilians — and that does not include illegal immigrants. According to representative Azwindini Nengovhela: “We have not replaced any of the officers lost since the election through death or retirement.”
So far this year alone nearly 700 officers have left the SAPS. Nengovhela says that only by relying on the army and private security firms to supplement personnel can the police maintain high visibility and carry out certain duties.
“In normal circumstances we should be able to stand on our own, but for some operations we find ourselves increasingly relying on back-up from the army. That is not the way for a democratic police service to operate.”