North Gauteng High Court judgment victory for transparency

31 May 2018

The South African Policing Union welcomes the North Gauteng High Court judgement ordering the SAPS to furnish an officer who unsuccessfully applied for the post of Brigadier with the full results of his interview and reasons why he was turned down. We commend Acting Judge SS Madiba for this progressive judgement.

It is only fair that Benny Nkuna is afforded the full results so that he may satisfy himself how the process was conducted. SAPU is also of the view that we are living in a democratic dispensation that subscribes to transparency and fairness. It is of vital importance that applicants are shown how fair the process was when they were engaged in competition.

Transparency will also assist in terms of discouraging favouritism and the application of double standards by managers. It is unfortunate that Mr Nkuna had to apply using the Promotion of Access to Information Act in order to get this information. The right to access to any information is a constitutional right. SAPU believes the SAPS will use this judgement to act responsible in future.

Why the SAPS wanted to deprive any applicant the results of the interview process? The obvious question would be what are they hiding? This judgement is a lesson to the SAPS management who treat the police as their own spaza shops. Transparency is a must in order to avoid any thought of suspicion. This is victory for transparency.

Issued by Oscar Skommere, SAPU, 31 May 2018