Shortages of equipment and a lack of adequate training are seriously hampering the work of the South African Police Service in its fight against crime.
Of particular concern is a shortage of bulletproof vests, at a time when so many police officers have been killed in the line of duty.
These were some of the points made on SAfm Radio's After Eight Debate by a panel of experts who discussed the topic: "Are the SAPS adequately resourced to fight crime in the country?"
The DA's spokesperson on safety and security, Diane Kohler-Barnard, told the panel that police management had assured parliament they were quite satisfied and that everything the SAPS needed had been ordered.
She said the DA was quite sceptical and had gone to police stations and found the situation was quite different.
Kohler-Barnard said there were many staff shortages in the SAPS with some posts remaining vacant for more than a year.
There was a lack of training for station managers and detectives. "Then there are shortages of firearms, batons, pepper sprays, the list is quite substantial."
These problems were very real, said a second member of the debating panel, Johan Burger, researcher at the Institute for Security Studies.
"They have been confirmed by an internal investigation by the police themselves in a report compiled earlier in 2008 by the so-called Policy Advisory Council, which was appointed by the national commissioner," he said.
"Part of the problem is that the backlogs are so great and if you add deficiencies in terms of management ability, especially at a local level, then it is extremely difficult firstly to determine how big your shortages are and secondly how to make up for those shortages."
A third member of the panel commissioner Gary Kruse, head of SAPS training, said the problem of bulletproof vests and other equipment was being addressed.
"While we are trying to deal with the backlogs at a station level, we are making sure that every student who leaves our basic training institutions is fully equipped in all ways."
He said senior managers had visited all SAPS stations and produced a report on vacancies. "Procedures are in place and we hope to finalise them before the end of the financial year."
The SAPS was buying more and better vehicles, ones better suited to the conditions under which the police operated.