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News24 reports that according to the leaders of policing unions, police officers cannot continue to be grateful to merely survive, while management structures are bloated and high-ranking officers idle in over-resourced, airconditioned offices.
They laid bare the concerns of their members before parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police on Wednesday, briefing the committee on a litany of issues affecting officers on the ground. Union leaders and police management also gave feedback on the findings of the SAPS organisational climate survey. Mosadiwamaje Mokokong of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) told MPs it was evident that salaries were a direct cause of the demoralised SAPS personnel. "Despite the meagre salaries they earn, our members would still be expected to work uncomfortable hours and not be fairly remunerated or payment is unreasonably delayed in some instances. This occurs mostly when members are deployed to quell sporadic public unrests, like the ones experienced in July 2021, in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal," she said. Mokokong pointed out that the so-called danger allowance had remained at R400 since 2001 and said unions wanted it to be retrospectively increased to R1,500. The SA Policing Union (SAPU) argued that the survey highlighted the dissatisfaction with promotions and career opportunities. The Independent Policing Union of SA said several management changes had added to the already low-level of morale and pointed out that for the past 14 years police management had been unstable. "Senior managers [are] constantly re-deployed and the unending restructuring created inconsistency and uncertainty. Lateral appointment at senior police rank designations and placement, without due competency requirements, affected confidence and performance. Concentrated delegation of power is centralised, especially for resources deployment and infrastructure capacity," the union stated.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jason Felix at News24 (subscriber access only)
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