South Africa’s police service could have a potentially explosive problem on its hands if high stress levels within its ranks are not dealt with urgently.
With an estimated 90 percent of physically injured police officers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and the SAPS “mirroring” South African society, which, according to studies, has an estimated 15 percent of citizens suffering from anxiety disorders such as PTSD, police management and researchers fear that ticking time bombs within their ranks may soon explode.
According to a South African stress and health national study, the lifetime prevalence of any anxiety disorder, which includes PTSD, in the country is 15.8 percent.
The fears come as Gauteng police commissioner Lieutenant-General Mzwandile Petros on Monday outlined ideas on making trauma counselling for SAPS members compulsory.
Shockwaves have recently reverberated across the country following a spate of brutal attacks on citizens by police. The warning about the potentially lethal problems of PTSD and other stress disorders within the SAPS comes weeks after the killings of Ficksburg protester Andries Tatane and Kempton Park motorist Jeanette Odendaal.
Tatane was shot dead during a service delivery protest, while Odendaal was shot dead after bumping against a police vehicle outside the Kempton Park police station.
Odendaal’s alleged killer, Sergeant Manape Kgoale, had apparently recently completed nearly three weeks of emotional stress counselling when the killing occurred.
Petros, along with national police commissioner General Bheki Cele, addressed police officers in Pretoria on stress in a live broadcast beamed to tens of thousands of members at stations across the country.
Admitting that it was difficult to get members to undergo voluntary trauma counselling, Petros said management was looking at possibly making trauma counselling and debriefing compulsory.
“We have regular counselling sessions but we rely on members voluntarily coming forward and going to the sessions.
“We need to change this. We need to make sure that there is a programme in place which makes it compulsory for members to go for counselling.
“If stress is not detected at an early stage, we could have serious, serious problems on our hands,” Petros added.
His warning was echoed by Cele, who said the SAPS mirrored South African society.
“Our worry is on brutality. South Africa is an extremely stressed society, which is mirrored by the police service, who take its members from this society.
“Citizens need to look at themselves and ask why we are such a brutal society, which in the last financial year saw more than 16 000 people being murdered.
“It is the police who are often on the receiving end of this brutality, and while they have a right to protect themselves and defend people, they must understand that they are having to police with human rights.
“It is a very fine balance,” the commissioner said.
He said employment wellness was vital to the wellbeing of the SAPS’s members and that the programme was being expanded.
“What is needed is a greater capacity which will give members quicker access and exposure to trauma counselling,” he said.
Pretoria University criminologist Professor Christiaan Bezuidenhout, who spoke at the address, said the level of PTSD within the SAPS was significantly higher than that in society because of the nature of a police member’s work.
“The police are sitting with a serious problem.
“What is of grave concern is the ‘dark figure’, which is the unreported cases of stress, which is definitely increasing.
“There are huge numbers, who are not reporting that they are suffering from severe trauma, who need to seek help.
“A person with a problem not going for help is a ticking time-bomb who urgently needs support, debriefing and therapy,” he said.
Supporting the idea of compulsory counselling, he said it was clear that SAPS management was serious about addressing trauma within the organisation.
“There is a problem with members believing they will be negatively labelled if they go for counselling, but management’s idea is that everyone, irrespective of rank or position, is to go, and it is to be done on a regular basis.
“By taking such action, you will help prevent members from committing family murders, suicides and brutalising their own families and other citizens,” he said.
Trauma Society of South Africa president Elmin Steyn said research showed that 90 percent of police officers physically injured in the line of duty would have PTSD.
“The reason is that they have either had previous injuries, or are affected by the fact that their colleagues have had similar experiences and now they are going through something similar.
“On top of their injuries, they are already under immense psychological strain, which is now compounded by their injuries,” she said.
Institute of Security Studies policing specialist Johan Burger said stress disorders such as PTSD were a huge problem within the police, especially among operational units.
“The problem is that police members often don’t know that they suffer from high stress levels because they are not aware of the symptoms
“Also, police officers are often, during management courses, told to be on the lookout for signs of stress, yet they are not qualified to recognise the symptoms, and where they do, they do not know how to act on it,” Burger said. - Pretoria News