The Citizen reports that Minister of Police Bheki Cele has vowed to check why scores of police officers did not report for duty on Monday amid rumours that the police, who are essential services civil servants, were going on strike.
He said at least 400 officers in the Western Cape and up to 120 in KwaZulu-Natal did not report for duty on Monday. “I am told that they have sick notes. If doctors do things that are untoward we are not scared to deal with them,” he said. The minister called on those who did not go to work for any other reason to return as the police management was working on finding a solution to their concerns. Cele also met on Monday with more than 1,200 station commanders in Centurion in an effort to find a solution to end the impasse. It emerged during the meeting that officers were unhappy about progress with promotions after the minister last year pledged to address the backlog of over 69,000 promotions, which had seemingly been reduced to 45,000. Cele said it was agreed to review the promotion process to accommodate the worst affected, engage the officers involved within a week and get expert advice on how to go about the process of tackling the backlog. The minister said the experts were expected to complete their report within three months, but warned those officers who stayed away from work that they would be called on to explain.
- Read the full original of Sipho Mabena’s report in the above regard at The Citizen
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