SowetanLive reports that the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) wants increased technology support and more police officers, its president indicated at a central executive committee meeting this week.

“Over the past few years budget cuts, poor infrastructure, a lack of resources and training, and staff shortages have reached crisis levels and are preventing our members from performing their work effectively,” Zizamele Cebekhulu-Makhaza told 800 delegates. These challenges placed police and correctional service officers at risk, he claimed. A recent 2022/23 annual performance plan reported a decline in officers from 199,345 in 2011/12 to 182,126 at the end of the 2020/21 financial year. Cebekhulu-Makhaza said: “The greatest declines were seen at police station level, where human resources decreased by 14.3% between April 2012 and July 2021. They now hold just 43.4% of ideal personnel demand requirements, or four in 10 of officers needed.” In contrast, Cebekhulu-Makhaza reported that the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSiRA) announced a 43% increase in employed private security officers to 557,277 – nearly triple the number of SAPS members. Further interventions were needed to improve police visibility and activity on the ground, Cebekhulu-Makhaza asserted. Additionally, there were technological solutions that must be employed as one of the resources to fight crime.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Sisanda Mbolekwa at TimesLIVE

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page