Durban - The SAPS crime prevention strategy was “highly unlikely” to bring down crime levels in the country under the current leadership and resources, the SA Police Union (Sapu) warned.
Sapu president, Mpho Kwinika, told the Daily News that the crime statistics, released by the SAPS on Friday, were an indictment on the performance of police commissioner, General Riah Phiyega, and the country’s policing strategy.
“We as the South African Police Union are very worried about the picture created by the stats and we are hoping the (SAPS) executive responsible would take it very seriously because the policing in the country has taken another turn (for the worse),” Kwinika said.
“We need strong leadership and we have people who do not come to the ground level of policing. Crime prevention is a problem, but this is because we adopted a strategy from other countries. South African crime is different, and with crime prevention that lacks resources.”
Kwinika said more police patrols were needed, particularly to enhance crime prevention.
“The current policing strategy is highly unlikely to work,” citing as an example the police Flying Squad, a crack unit that was meant to respond to serious and violent crimes, particularly those in progress.
“The Flying Squad is a unit in motion, and when there is a call for them within built-up areas, they should respond quickly to a crime situation but currently they are used for escorting personnel,” said Kwinika.
“When driving to airports you will find the Flying Squad. You will find them stationed along the streets or roads. They are using Flying Squads in patrols,” he said. “Visible policing is not a job for the Flying Squad.”
Kwinika said while South Africa could adopt another country’s policing strategy, local police should learn how to apply it to the South African crime model. “South Africa is a very violent country but Britain is unique and so is South Africa. We need to produce our own strategies based on what we are encountering as police on a daily basis.
Kwinika said people needed to hear what Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko would say about the commissioner’s performance after the release of the crime stats.
“Operationally, Phiyega must tell South Africa whether she is still doing a good job. We feel that she is not doing well because this is her review. She did not perform well but we will hear what she is going to do about that because she has been reflected badly on the crime stats.”
Kwinika said: “The union will ask, ‘You are being judged by the stats, what now?’. The union says she has been doing very badly and the president of the country would need to consider this - whether he should appoint another person - but he should look into this.”
He also claimed that crime intelligence was being used for political reasons instead of being acted upon to fight crime, and that officers on the ground are sometimes left without direction.
“We need more public policing because people are dying there during those operations. Not that we don’t know what to do but it’s the way we are instructed from the management. All these things need a person with an understanding of how policing works.”
However, national police spokes-man, Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale dismissed Kwinika’s concerns . Makgale said he was not aware of the Flying Squad being used to ferry staff to airports. “If somebody is saying that is happening, where is that happening so we can look into it?”
Kwinika said police were doing well in tackling family violence cases after the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit was reopened in 2011. However, he said the unit needed well trained and experienced members.
“Specialised crime units need synergy because you will find people in stations learning to deal with crime. No one is trained well and they must be trained well to deal with crime in the office when a rape victim walks in,” Kwinika said.
“They (victims) should be able to share their humiliation where they would feel at home.”
Daily News