The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, Mr Ian Cameron, is dumbfounded by the decision to overturn the sanction to dismiss a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who was caught transporting drugs, to a mere two-month suspension.
According to Mr Cameron the decision is not only illogical but it tarnishes the reputation of the SAPS. He said: “We have, over the past few weeks, questioned the SAPS leadership on its commitment to their disciplinary code, the law and commitment to law-abiding South Africans. This decision spews on the face of all South Africans who hope that the SAPS would always act in their best interest and in the service to protect the people,” Mr Cameron said.
At face value, the decision confirms a perception that the police would go to the far extremes in protecting their own irrespective of the crime committed. “This case demonstrates a general trend of lack of meaningful consequences against rogue, corrupt and criminal elements within the SAPS. The question is, how will the SAPS ever overturn the state of trust deficit that this police entity is experiencing when such cases are treated with impunity and no due regard from senior management,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
This decision is illogical on many fronts, but the two most important are the criminality involved as well as the unilateral power given to senior management to reverse the decision. Firstly, South Africa, and the Cape Flats in the Western Cape are struggling with a high rate of substance abuse and gang-related murders.
The fact that the officer was caught transporting drugs using a marked police vehicle with a known gangster as a passenger, renders the assurances that SAPS is working hard to combat drug trafficking and gangsterism in the Cape Flats mythical. Furthermore, the arrest of this officer disproves the claim by the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner that the SAPS are making inroads in combating gangs when police themselves are involved in gangsterism.
Secondly, it is unacceptable that the Western Cape provincial head can suggest that the employer/employee relationship has not irrevocably broken down when the officer in question was caught breaking the law. “The SAPS leadership have on numerous occasions assured the committee that they will dismiss any errant officers, but their actions are inconsistent with this assurance” Mr Cameron said.
As a result of this irrational decision, the committee will invite the Minister of Police, the National Commissioner and the Western Cape Provincial Commissioner to account for the reversal of the initial sanction. “The committee will not be complicit to the clear breaking of the law. Such impunity must never be tolerated,” Mr Cameron emphasised.
The envisaged meeting will broadly interrogate the framework of the SAPS disciplinary code, its effectiveness, number of police officers criminally charged who have been cleared in internal disciplinary processes. We repeat that rogue police officers have no place in the service and they must be removed urgently.
