The Citizen reports that according to the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), the police are facing a dire skills shortage within their Special Task Force and National Intervention Units.
But the drain of human resources is not limited to elite members, with the total number of officers having fallen by 17,470 in the decade between 2012 and 2022. The cause of the drop has been attributed to officers either retiring or leaving uniformed service all together, but a significant portion have opted to take up better paying roles within the private sector. Popcru President, Thulani Ngwenya, indicated: “The migration of some of our most experienced and valuable officers to the private sector is not only weakening our law enforcement capabilities, but also undermining the principle of state responsibility for protecting all citizens. This represents a serious threat to our national security, as our most skilled officers are leaving faster than we can train replacements.” Lamenting a power imbalance, he said: “Private security should not outnumber police in any country. It’s not correct that private security’s numbers are stronger than the state’s, because private security’s concern is for the rich people who can pay for their services, not for the poor or for protecting our communities. The responsibility for protecting the country cannot be privatised – it must remain in the hands of the state in accordance with our Constitution.” Popcru urged government to muster the political and administrative will to make the police service an attractive employment option.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Jarryd Westerdale at The Citizen
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