With police abusing their sick leave to score additional days off, many stations have been left ill-equipped to combat crime, reports Angella Johnson
THE South African Police Service (SAPS) is planning a crackdown on widespread abuse of the service’s generous sick leave benefits as part of the efficiency drive announced by national Commissioner George Fivaz.
Police are granted 120 days’ sick leave with full salary every three years to cover the eventuality that they may be injured in the line of duty. This is in addition to the 30 days’ annual holiday time allocated. Officers with more than 10 years’ service qualify for double the normal sick leave allocation.
But it is claimed many officers are using the benefits to extend their holiday leave, hampering the service’s ability to combat crime.
“It is quite apparent to us, from the medical records, that many stations were often understaffed because of people taking sick time out for several days at a time,” said Senior Superintendent Strini Govender, communication officer for human resources at the SAPS Pretoria headquarters.
“In some cases members intending to take a few days off tend to make use of their sick leave for this purpose instead of their vacation time.”
The practice placed an unnecessary burden on disciplined police officers, “as well as financial implications in the sense of rescheduling duties so that members have to perform overtime duties”.
Another common practice is that police working on relief duties are granted four days off after the completion of a shift of eight days. They then manipulate sick leave to score additional days off.
A special task force of five police departments, including management service and human resources, has been set up to evaluate the extent of the problem and find ways of tightening controls.
From the beginning of next month, every police station will have to present monthly reports of people on sick leave, which will be collated nationally and sent on to national headquarters. Only then will a decision be made about the best way to tighten up the process.
Earlier this month, Fivaz and Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi announced tough plans to improve police efficiency to bolster its crime-fighting capabilities.
Performance contracts setting out officers’ personal goals and commitments were among the measures proposed.
Fivaz promised a major clean-up of the SAPS that would beef up its flagging performance and warned that heads would roll in the shake-up.
He said the service “dared not indulge in the mindset” that it was merely the victim of circumstances it could not alter. “It simply must succeed through effective utilisation of existing resources.”
The reaction to tightening up on sick leave is likely to be strong.
One officer, who did not want to be identified, defended his right to take sick days as a way of recuperating from the stresses of a job which has become increasingly more dangerous.
Another officer, Theo Bosch, said the sick leave was initially granted for women who suffered from premenstrual sickness every month. “That way they can take a few days off without having to get a doctor’s certificate,” he said.