Durban’s metro police are waiting for the arrival of 20 dogs - 10 for patrol, five which can detect explosives and five for narcotics detection - in a R1 million deal with arms manufacturer Denel.
Denel confirmed the deal with eThekwini Municipality but said it had yet to be finalised.
None of the unit’s officers or managers had been consulted nor involved in the purchase. Documents leaked to the Sunday Tribune showed the “requisition of stock” was negotiated and signed off on by Constable Nhlanhla Makhanya, while the deputy head of supply chain operations, Zandile Sithole, accepted the offer and signed off the letter of award.
“Makhanya is an operational constable irregularly deployed into a logistics function while there are capable internal logistics staff available. He has no logistics experience,” said a source.
Metro police officers are accusing their head, Eugene Nzama, of delegating the procurement to the transport unit.
eThekwini Municipality spokesperson Tozi Mthethwa refused to comment, saying the purchase was linked to Durban’s crime-fighting plan and could not be discussed.
Denel spokesperson Pamela Malinda pleaded client confidentiality and refused to give details, saying it would be “unethical” and “in bad faith”.
Metro’s Sibonelo Mchunu said he was unaware of the purchase, as was Nhlanhla Madikizela of the SA Municipal Workers Union (Samwu) .
The cost of the dogs - of unknown breeds - is R1230915. This includes transportation to Durban, claim the documents.
The purchase was from Denel Land Systems in Pretoria, a division of Denel SOC Ltd, and, according to its website, is a diversified hi-tech industrial group registered under the South African Companies Act, with the state as the sole shareholder.
Officers in the unit said the dogs were pre-trained.
“Who trained them in Tshwane and how were they trained? Normally, a dog is trained with the handler to bond and know each other,” said the source. “How will they work together if they don’t know each other? This is dangerous. These are vicious dogs who even their handlers won’t know. What happens if a dog bites a member of the public?”
Officers said despite their high cost, the dogs would be left in the kennels because no one would touch them.
“How can people acquire dogs when they don’t know what’s happening in a unit and which dogs are required?
“Let’s say you bring 20 dogs to Durban and you choose 20 people as handlers and the dogs don’t get on with the people. What’s going to happen?” said another source.
“Police dogs must be trained under the supervision of the SAPS. At the end of the course, the SAPS must mark and pass those who have done the training - both the dog and its handler. There is a need for more dogs, but the way this
has been done is wrong and scary,” said the source.
Another source said the unit had not paid for dogs in a long time and depended on the public to donate suitable ones.
The unit has 10 active patrol dogs; five others were kept in kennels and needed training.
Sources say the dogs were donated by the public in September 2016.
While the dogs await training they are kept in kennels because they should not become friendly, though some officers take them for walks.
“Had this (the supply of dogs) been left to the unit it would have cost R300 000 to train them, saving eThekwini a lot of money. The procurement process for the new dogs is strange and raises a lot of questions,” said a police officer.
The only training instructor for patrol dogs retired in April and has not been replaced.
Narcotics and explosive dogs were of concern as the unit had no capabilities to look after such dogs. Metro officers normally work with the SAPS in search operations when these dogs are needed.
“Metro usually uses patrol dogs to search for suspects but, when it comes to searching for things like drugs, SAPS must be involved. Even if the president is coming, metro’s dogs can’t search the building for explosives because they don’t have the capabilities. I don’t even think it’s in our mandate.
“Now they have bought narcotics and explosives dogs, who will train and assess them? It’s a mess,” said another officer.
Police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said the SAPS was responsible for prescribing training standards for Metro Police. “SAPS is not in a position to dictate to Metro Police which providers they must use to procure dogs. The SAPS can be invited to inspect the dogs to see if they are suitable for training. Dogs can be trained without handlers but further training is required when paired with handlers before deployment.”
Animal activist Jessica Singh was angry when she heard five donated dogs were still being kept in kennels.
“Members of the public obviously donated them to serve a purpose. Why are they being kept in kennels? Those dogs will develop kennel stress because there are confined in one space without socialisation. They should be active and bonding with their handlers.
“This is animal cruelty. How can they train new dogs and leave behind those that have been there? No animal must be kept in kennels and excluded from socialising. If there is no need for those dogs, they must be taken back or moved to where they can be used, even in Kruger K9,” said Singh.