Funding, personnel and other resources have yet to be finalised for the new police division earmarked to take over the crime prevention tasks of rural commandos, and no date has been set for the division to become fully operational, say police.
“The divisional commissioner for protection and security services, Commissioner Sean Tshabalala, was appointed late last year and we are in the process of establishing this division in terms of resources, budget and personnel,” states a written reply to a request for comment from police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. “Separate units will be established that will function within this division.”
The full establishment of this new division appears to have been pre-empted by the controversial announcement of the phasing out of commandos by President Thabo Mbeki and Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.
The minister on Monday February 17 cited the history of commandos, used extensively during the apartheid years to stop the infiltration of guerrillas, as one of the reasons for this move. Mbeki said it was a means to provide “a new system whose composition and ethos accord with the requirements of all rural communities”.
However, AgriSA, analysts and political parties have cast doubt on the wisdom of the phasing out of the 183 commandos, which since late 1997 have been an integral part of the government’s rural protection plan.
Nqakula’s suggestion that they are to be replaced by a police division also responsible for protecting borders, VIPs and national key-points such as Parliament, the Union Buildings and Mahlamba Ndlopfu, the presidential residence in Pretoria, has drawn fire.
In recent years some commandos, which mainly comprise farmers and part-time members of the defence force, have hit the headlines over the assault and abuse of black rural communities. In 1999 the Mail & Guardian reported the defence force would foot the legal bill of three Wakkerstroom commando members, also farmers, sued by Moses Mayisela who was tortured and blinded in 1996.
Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota on Thursday February 20 was adamant that South Africa as a constitutional order could not afford commandos, which he described as “not trained, armed, part-time citizens … not trained as safety and security officers”.
In addition to phasing out commandos, the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) will also withdraw from its supporting role to the police because the primary role of soldiers was to defend South Africa’s sovereignity and not fight crime or patrol borders. The withdrawal would be staggered so the police could build its capacity, Lekota told the M&G.
While the phasing out of commandos and the withdrawal of the SANDF will be staggered over six years — under the supervision of a joint task team — there remains a question mark over the exact role of the new protection and security services division in rural crime fighting.
“Members of the Division: Protection and Security Services, as is the case with other SAPS divisions, will from time to time perform detached duties in rural areas for specific operations based on crime patterns and intelligence operation gathered,” said the police statement.
Nqakula said the division had already provided protection to 676 VIPs at 32 events, including the cricket World Cup and last year’s World Summit on Sustainable Development.
“The rural areas of South Africa are far removed from cricket matches,” said Kiewiet Ferreira, AgriSA spokesperson on safety and security. “We need them. There’s no doubt.”
Ferreira said there is concern that the move has been politically motivated following speculation that commandos had been infiltrated by members of the right-wing extremists, the Boeremag.
Institute for Security Studies researcher Martin Schoenteich said there was no evidence of such links.
“He [Nqakula] should really think about this. Commandos are not perfect but they are working quite well,” said Schoenteich, adding that in most rural areas few police stations or vehicles were available.
Observers say the withdrawal of commandos and the defence force from border duties has already had a negative impact on rural safety. Over the past year the police have struggled to cope with patrolling the country’s long border with northerly states and with escalating stock theft along the border with Lesotho.