Speaker notes by National Police Commissioner, General Riah Phiyega at the SAPU National Congress, Gauteng
President, Mpho Kwinika
Other National Office Bearers
PEU President, Ben Machipi
General Secretary, Frikkie de Bruin
PSCBC NUPSAW Secretary Genera,l Success Mataitsane
Chairperson of ICPRA, Greg O'Connor
SSSBC: General Secretary, Khomotso Mosoane
CPF Chairperson, Leonard Brown
Kenya Police Union: General Secretary, Nicky Njuguna
IPID: Mr Viceroy Maoka
Members of the news media
All other dignitaries present
Ladies and gentlemen, good morning to each and every one present. Thank you for inviting me to be part of such an important day on the SAPU calendar. Under the theme “Professional Policing a MUST for a better South Africa," on behalf of all SAPS members, we indeed concur with SAPU on this theme. We are 100% behind ensuring that this mighty organisation is professionalised.
Let me use the opportunity to congratulate the executive leadership of SAPU. They were all elected unopposed yesterday. This talks to the unity of purpose within SAPU. Congratulations are in order.
Yesterday, we gathered academics and police management together to discuss this same issue but within the context of demilitarization as outlined in the National Development Plan. I was pleased that SAPU had representation at this Colloquium because I am a firm believer that the future of the SAPS should be discussed, planned and implemented with the active participation of our labour partners. Let me say that workers, all of us sitting here in this room, are the power behind the SAPS. Without us, without our input, the SAPS will not succeed.
At yesterday's colloquium, we spoke about Diepsloot - fast growing, with current population estimates in excess of 500 000 people. There is an influx of foreign nationals and South Africans from other provinces that come to Gauteng in search of work. You can rent a shack for around R800 per month and almost every yard has a couple of shacks in it. The situation is so bad that some areas cannot be accessed using a vehicle. The roads are bad and, almost daily, you have to replace the tyres of the cars. Tarvens and spaza shops have mushroomed everywhere. There are tensions between different taxi associations which result in sporadic acts of violence. There is a high unemployment rate, and alcohol and drug abuse are the order of the day. The crimes associated with this type of living conditions are murder, attempted murder, assaults, rape, etc etc....
I can say the same about Nyanga in the Western Cape, Motherwell in the Eastern Cape and Reiger Park. It is tough out there for our members. Whilst performing their difficult task, some of them are attacked and some are killed. What also pains me a great deal is that some community members, no longer show the police respect.
Truth be told, the community will only show respect for us, when we respect ourselves. That is when we are professional. Just like Colonel Balatsi, station commander of Diepsloot, who refused a bribe of R5000 from criminals, we must have a high degree of integrity, coupled with professionalism
Fellow warriors in the fight against crime, I know you will agree that for the sake of our country, we want a police service that is seen by the community as upright, professional, honest and respectful. Not only respectful, but respected. So, who must respect who first, you might ask. Well, I know for sure that the last thing we want is what we saw in Bloemhof, North West, where houses belonging to police officers were burnt down by angry protestors. So, let's go out there and build bridges.
I saw the video of the woman in Delft, Western Cape who was beating a man, who had been tied up and suspected of being a criminal, with a sjambok. By the way, the DA says the officers seen in that video eating bananas while this was happening, are our members. They are not. They are so called law enforcement officers of the City of Cape Town.
Anyway, in this video, the woman really went for this guy, hitting him over and over with a sjambok. She left and came back and hit him over and over again! This grown man was screaming like a little child. And I saw the satisfaction shown by the woman. According to her, justice was served. Some of those that stood by probably also felt the same way.
I was immediately reminded of a situation, early this year. A woman was burnt to death in a village in Limpopo by her in laws simply because they thought she was a witch. Similarly, a man in Mamelodi was falsely accused by community members of being a serial rapist. All his earthly possessions were torched and he was severely beaten. He only survived the onslaught because he was saved by the SAPS. Wait until the falsely accused is your best friend, your mother, your father or you cousin. Then you will feel the pain and the senselessness of it all. Even if they have done something wrong, you will argue, is that the way we should treat them?
Now, we all read newspapers. We all listen to the radio. Some in the room here use twitter or Facebook. You have heard and read what some people out there are saying. The police are soft. Skop, skiet and donder is the solution they say.
We must sjambok and torture them... The criminals, ba utlwa ka letlalo!!! That's what apartheid police did. Did they win against the will of the people? Do we want to bring back apartheid type of policing?
As you have heard before, an eye for an eye will make this world go blind. Violence against or by our communities is not the answer.
I'm not at all saying our members must, like ants, be trampled upon. No, we are not doormats. We are not useless grasshoppers. We must use the appropriate levels of force when the situation calls for it in line with the laws of this country. If you follow the law and our prescripts, as your National Commissioner, I will support you to the bitter end. I will fight for you right up to the highest court in our land.
We must be smart. We must not think with our firearms and with our boots! Use the law, act lawfully at all times and you will always be protected. I must repeat this: use the appropriate level of force when the situation calls for it in line with the laws of this country.
I am equally aware that we have come under fierce criticism lately following the death of Senzo Meyiwa. As can be expected, the gruesome killing of our soccer captain grabbed local and international media headlines and most certainly occupied many dinner table conversations.
Under these circumstances of intense criticism, we can either succumb to the pressure or press on with the task at hand. What I know with absolute certainty is that we are not confused about the important role that we must play, which we must do with distinction, in the fight against crime and the maintenance of law of order. So, soldier on we must and soldier on we will. We will not surrender and we will not give in to the wishes of the critics.
We must, however, take note of the frustration voiced by the public about crime in general and violent crime in particular in our country, which has reached a crescendo following the tragic loss of Senzo Meyiwa.
This brings me to the reason we are here this morning. It is the duty of our labour partners to remind management when things that are supposed to be done by management are left unattended. Challenge us when the barracks need refurbishing. Challenge us when the vehicles are not available at a time when they are supposed to be. Challenge us when you believe management is acting unfairly.
Discussing matters of mutual concern is what brought progress and development to many sectors in this country. On numerous occasions we have engaged with one another on various labour relations matters. It is the respect we have for each other that prompted SAPU to invite me, as the National Commissioner of the SAPS, to attend and be part of this congress, despite the differences that may arise from time to time.
The differences we may have are secondary to our mutual love and respect for the South African Police Service as an organisation. It is the passion that we have for this noble profession of policing, serving and protecting that binds us.
The future of this organisation rests in our hands. It is up to us to ensure that one day when we have done our part, we can proudly look back and say: the SAPS improved significantly when I was there and I made a contribution. I left it a much better place than I found it.
Professionalism can be defined as the competence or skill expected of a professional. Indeed, society expects professionalism from us and we as the management of the SAPS, also expects that from every employee. Therefore, SAPS members must display professional conduct at all times. The onus is on us to work hard and serve with dignity and humility.
The community-based recruitment and selection process of policemen and policewomen in line with the National Development Plan (NDP), aims at attracting a new calibre of professional police member. This process will enable the community to be part of the selection of the members who are to serve them.
We are developing various methods that will assist us in establishing a professionalised SAPS as depicted in the NDP. Instilling a culture of education in the SAPS, as we have done with initiating the Paarl University in the Western Cape, is one of the key instruments of a professionalised organisation.
We will shortly be implementing a Front-Line Service Delivery (FSD) programme, which is designed to improve the experience communities have when they visit police stations. This includes addressing the professional conduct of police officers, accessibility to police stations and the overall improvement of service delivery. We have managed to increase the number of victim-friendly rooms where complainants, especially those of crimes such as rape and domestic violence, can give their statements and discuss their cases in private. These statements should be taken by properly trained professional officers.
This year the SAPS promoted 7 524 members in various divisions country-wide as part of the SAPS management's commitment to promote qualifying and suitable employees through grade progression. This is after spending nearly a Billion rand on progressing levels 3 to level 5. But that is not enough. That is why we are fighting Solidarity in court. early in 2013, we wanted to promote members from the rank of warrant officer to lieutenant, and from captain to major. Unfortunately, this process was interdicted by Solidarity in the labour court.
Ladies and gentlemen, looking at the time constraint it will be a challenge to touch on our other achievements in living up to today’s theme. However, I must emphasise that corruption, fraud and poor service delivery will not be tolerated.
Men and women of honour, who will be real custodians of the law, are the people we need in the SAPS.
All members of the police should know that acts of corruption and criminality, as well as neglect of duty, tarnish the image of the SAPS and undermine the sterling work done by the majority of the men and women in blue. This year alone, we have dealt internally with personnel who have misrepresented themselves in their curriculum vitaes. We have also arrested our own members who opted not to follow the organization's guidelines, regulations and Code of Conduct while performing their duties.
All this, we have done and continue to do in the name of “Professional Policing a MUST for a better South Africa”.
