Court orders SAPS to disclose information about former MK members as a matter of urgency 

The Northern Gauteng High Court today ordered the SAPS by means of an urgent interdict to disclose all information to the trade union about its Non-Statutory Forces (NSF) members, which include MK and Apla members whom the SAPS wanted to promote as part of a secret human resources project. The court also suspended the promotion of former NSF members. This follows after the same court issued an order in April this year, but the SAPS ignored it.

“The interdict Solidarity obtained today now forces the SAPS to make all information available to Solidarity within 60 days. Furthermore, all promotions associated with the NSF project are suspended. However, normal promotion processes and the promotion of the other members of the Police Service are not affected by this interdict,” Renate Barnard, Sector Coordinator of Special Projects at Solidarity said.

According to Barnard, this ruling is a victory for Solidarity, especially because the SAPS’s actions made it clear that they had intended to unlawfully go ahead with the promotion of NSF members, not even heeding a court instruction to make information about this project available to Solidarity. 

Barnard said the trade union had no choice but to approach the court after it had transpired that the SAPS was pressing ahead with the unconstitutional promotion of 628 MK members to the exclusion of 150 000 other professional SAPS members. “This interdict is a major breakthrough in our fight to protect thousands of professional, career-driven SAPS members against this unlawful and discriminating project that would have been detrimental to their future,” Barnard said.

Barnard also said Solidarity would peruse the information that is to be provided by the SAPS to ensure that the trade union is in a position to protect and promote its members’ interests and rights. “We are convinced that the reason why SAPS failed to honour the court order to disclose information about the secret project has to do with the fact that the project is plain unconstitutional and unlawful,” Barnard concluded.

Statement issued by Renate Barnard, Sector Coordinator: Special Projects, Solidarity, 4 August 2018