Gauteng traffic police at a meeting on September 27 to discuss the way forward for a department on the brink of collapse.
The Gauteng community safety department says an additional fleet of vehicles will be allocated to the province’s embattled traffic police unit.
This month, the Mail & Guardian revealed how up to 22 of 67 officers in one of the regions were staying at home on full pay because there weren’t enough patrol cars, while other units faced allowance and overtime cuts. The situation has adversely affected staff morale.
Although MEC Sizakele Nkosi-Malobane’s office initially declined to respond to questions, it has now denied there is any truth to the officers’ allegations.
“The department acknowledges there is [a] shortage, hence [an] additional fleet of vehicles is being ordered to date and will be available in the next financial year. All accident-damaged vehicles will also be replaced through a partnership with G-Fleet [the fleet management entity of the Gauteng roads and transport department],” said Nkosi-Malobane. “The department is not aware of any officer who is sitting at home but gets [a] salary.”
The traffic unit, which the provincial community safety department manages, is tasked with policing violations on the roads. The department has 12 regions in Gauteng’s three metros and other areas. These include the motorcycle unit, which escorts high-profile politicians such as the premier and other members of his executive.
Nkosi-Malobane’s office denied that most of its fleet was grounded because of poor maintenance and accidents. “The current fleet is at 300 vehicles that are functional and are assigned per duties of officers and regional offices.”
The Gauteng traffic police unit’s 600-strong workforce met representatives from the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union at the end of September.
The union subsequently met the community safety department. Following that meeting, senior staff from the department visited the unit’s 12 regions to help resolve staff issues.
“Some of the supervisors are back at work but there are still people sitting at home, like the supervisors from the Wadeville region and some juniors. And it’s for the same reasons, not enough cars,” said one of the unit’s supervisors, who asked to remain anonymous.
The department’s intervention was allegedly accompanied by a threat that staff would be fired for speaking out.
“There was a bit of change since the union meeting [with the MEC] but the problem is still there. They are now threatening to fire us for speaking [about the state of the unit]. We were going to lose our jobs and we have mouths to feed,” the supervisor said.
The department said it would not hesitate to act against officers who were getting paid but not reporting for duty.
“Public service prescripts are clear that if one has to be at home, leave must be applied for, and in the event a person decides to stay away without leave being approved, this is deemed as unpaid leave, and the department could institute disciplinary measures against such officers,” the department said.