South African Police Service prioritises capacitation of human personnel and physical resources, fills critical posts since July 2021 unrest
The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service(SAPS), General Fannie Masemola together with the management of the Service have noted the report released on The National Investigative Hearing into the July Unrest by the SAHRC and the CRL Commission.
The report contains various recommendations and findings on the events that took place in July 2021 including on the policing of the unrest, the gathering of intelligence and the response of the SAPS.
While the SAPS will study the reports in detail it is important to highlight notable progress made where key milestones were achieved to ensure the SAPS is better prepared to respond to such incidents.
Crime intelligence
Filling of critical and key vacancies within the crime intelligence environment have been addresssed such as the appointment of a permanent Divisional Commissioner and a Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection. All structures within the Crime Intelligence environment are being reviewed to enhance service delivery in all provinces. It is also important to note that the Crime Intelligence environment has greatly improved its mandate of detecting and collecting of information on crime which informs and assists in the coordination and planning of joint multidisciplinary operations with other key role players in the fight against crime.
Human and physical resources
Through project 10 000, the SAPS has trained and deployed 20 000 police offficers in the last two years to capacitate frontline policing services as well as specialised units with a key focus on the Public Order Police (POP) unit. 79 police officers have been trained and deployed as Drone pilots to assist in crime prevention and policing operations.
Public order police(POP)
In the past year, 5000 police officers have been trained in crowd management and deployed to serve in the Public Order Police(POP) unit.
R150 million was also allocated to procure resources to bolster crowd management equipment for the unit. Training has also been enhanced for members and now includes crowd psychology to improve the management and policing of crowds and gatherings.
The SAPS has also benchmarked and compared with other police organisations, in terms of use of the minimum force used to disperse large crowds and found that its current equipment and techniques such as the use of water canons, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse violent crowd situations is in line with international standards.
However, the SAPS is continuously researching and updating training material in respect of techniques and equipment in use during crowd management to minise the risk of human rights violation and prevent the excessive use of force.
Rebuilding of trust between the saps and communities we serve
The SAPS and the Ministry of a police are continuously taking part in community participation programmes through community engagements during imbizo’s, walkabouts and policing operations such as at road blocks.
Various community policing concepts are being implemented by the SAPS. Through the Community Police Forum(CPF) and sector crime forums, the SAPS is able to forge and promote a shared responsibility on crime prevention and community safety.
All 1163 police stations currently have fully functional CPF forums.
R70million was allocated in this financial year to resource and capacitate these CPF structures.
Case management
SAPS arrested 5341 suspects, 505 of those arrested were found guilty for a various charges ranging from murder, attempted murder, arson,possession of stolen property, and malicious damage to property. 394 cases are still in court
Incitement to commit violence cases
The DPCI is currently investigating 8 cases of incitement to commit violence. The DPCI has arrested 68 suspects , 65 of them were charged for contravening the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act 33 of 2004 (POCDATARA). One accused has already been sentenced to 12 years direct imprisonment for incitement to commit public violence and conspiracy to commit public violence.
The SAPS respects the work done by the two commissions especially as they are Chapter 9 institutions and will respond accordingly in terms of the timeframes reflected in the report
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