Under-resourced police spend R2 million on Excellence Awards

25 April 2016

A reply to a parliamentary question has revealed that almost R2 million was spent on the Annual South African Police Service National Excellence Awards held at the Sandton Convention Centre earlier this year. This while the SAPS around the country remains chronically under-resourced while crime continues to soar year on year.

While the DA is mindful that police employees should be recognised for their roles in the fight against crime in South Africa, it is simply unacceptable to spend such an exorbitant amount on an awards ceremony. 

The cost of the most recent police awards, held in March this year, increased by a massive 48% compared to the previous year and illustrates the inability of SAPS management to prioritise funds effectively.

In recent years, the SAPS has been plagued by the “four U’s” (under-resourced, under-trained, under-equipped and under-staffed) that impacts directly on the police service’s ability to carry out their responsibility to protect the citizens of this country.

For an effective police service and the reduction of crime in South Africa, we need to ensure that the “four U’s” are diligently addressed and efforts made to mitigate the “four U's"’ effect on crime in our nation are resolved. To this end SAPS officers need to have the necessary resources, training, equipment and staff they need to carry out their jobs of keeping South Africans safe. 

The R1,93 million spent on the awards ceremony could have been better utilised on police vehicles, infrastructure upgrades, specialised equipment or the recruitment of more officers.  

The latest crime statistics, released in September last year, showed an overall increase in crime nationally. It is clear that where the SAPS are most under-resourced, crime is highest. Yet, poor leadership and a failure to adequately assign the resources the SAPS leadership has continued to constrain the SAPS’ ability to prevent and respond to crime.

The appropriate resourcing of the SAPS is a national competency and the SAPS is constitutionally enjoined to act to prevent and curb spikes in violent crime on the rise. Specifically, the effect of under-resourcing is presently rearing its head in Manenberg in the Western Cape, where gang-related violence is endangering the lives of all who live there. 

The massive increase in spending on the Annual South African Police Service National Excellence Awards once again shows the lack of prioritisation, good management and leadership within the SAPS.

A DA government can and will bring an improved police service with competent management who have the right priorities to ensure well-resourced, adequately staffed, fully equipped, proficiently trained police officers at station level to tackle and reduce crime that injures the dignity of all South Africans.

Issued by Zakhele Mbhele, DA Shadow Minister of Police, 25 April 2016