NEWS ANALYSIS: Mine tragedy leaves stain on SAPS
reputation
by Trevor
Neethling, January 03 2013, 06:59
AS THE
Farlam commission of inquiry continued to hear startling evidence about police
conduct during the shooting of 34 miners at Marikana last year, there was no
doubt that 2012 damaged the reputation of the South African Police Service
(SAPS).
Last year
threw up so many questions about the state of the SAPS that it will likely
remain under the public microscope throughout this year.
The fact
that police were unable to gauge the extent of the Marikana threat and its
tragic consequences has placed the spotlight on the public order policing unit,
especially as the number of service delivery protests continues to increase.
Whether
it is as a result of the shoot-to-kill policy introduced by former police commissioner
Bheki Cele is open to debate.
What is
sure is that its glaring inadequacies over the past 12 months did not stop in
the North West mining town.
In
October, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) heaped more pressure
on the police when it released the findings of its probe into the death of
activist Andries Tatane, who died at the hands of police in front of TV cameras
during a service delivery protest in the Free State town of Ficksburg in 2011.
The SAHRC
criticised the police’s ability to deal with protests, including their failure
to authorise a "suitably qualified" member to represent police at
negotiations with the protestors; and to ensure that an adequate number of
police officers was deployed.
It
recommended that the SAPS improve the training of police officers and develop a
training manual for riot police.
The SAHRC
was also perturbed by the lack of response it had received on issues it raised
with the SAPS management, a fact the police ministry disputed.
Police
management had been aware of shortcomings in the public order police capability
for some time and had attempted to put in place processes to prevent the very
tragedy that unfolded at Marikana.
In August
2011, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa told delegates at a public order policing
conference that its current capabilities were not up to the required standard
and announced specific interventions.
But one
also can’t lose sight of the fact that the capability of public order police
services had been affected by two rounds of restructuring, which authorities
admit was a mistake, especially as the number of service delivery protests
increased over the past few years.
This
forced police management to re-establish a dedicated national public order
policing unit in 2011.
But
training problems extend beyond riot control. Police admitted last year that
nearly 30,000 officers have been declared incompetent in the use of firearms;
16,954 officers do not have driving licences, and many failed fitness
assessments.
Experts
and analysts finger the lack of police credibility in its management for many
of its problems. Previous commissioners Jackie Selebi and Bheki Cele were both
African National Congress loyalists with no police experience when appointed —
and both left under a cloud of corruption allegations and charges.
In Gen
Riah Phiyega, appointed in July last year, President Jacob Zuma has again seen
fit to put at the helm of the SAPS a non-career police officer.
While her
international expertise and qualifications, coupled with local understanding of
management dynamics, were touted as factors that would benefit the SAPS, her
appointment was met with much criticism.
In her
first few weeks in office she was dogged by her apparent links to a company
that had won a lucrative tender from the police administration. It is little
wonder then that two-thirds of South Africans believe the most corrupt
government officials are in the national police service, according to the
findings of a Human Sciences Research Council survey.
The
study, based on perceptions of corruption in the country, sampled 3,057 people
from the ages of 16 years and older.
But,
statistically at least, there was some solace for the beleaguered force of
about 200,000.
Statistics
released in September showed a significant decrease in contact crime, including
murder and attempted murder.
Overall,
2012 was a year the SAPS will want to quickly forget; but it’s unlikely that
the families of 34 dead Marikana miners, as well as the rest of the country,
will allow the most tragic post-apartheid event to be swept under the carpet.
