Trade union Solidarity said today that retaining and employing skilled employees should now take top priority in the South African Police Service (SAPS), not compliance with racial targets. In light of the increased crime statistics leaked last week, the trade union said the SAPS’s obsession with racially motivated appointments and promotions has resulted in fewer experienced police officers employed by the SAPS and it has contributed to the fact the crime is out of control.
Adv. Dirk Groenewald, head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, said it was disturbing that the SAPS, in the midst of a 10% and 11, 5% rise in murders and house robberies respectively in Gauteng, continued to appoint people based on race rather than expertise and experience. “It is evident from the SAPS’s latest employment equity plan for the period 1 January 2015 to 21 December 2019 that the police has committed itself anew to meet certain racial targets and that candidates’ skills are not a priority for the police at all,” Groenewald said.
According to these plans, the police’s workforce must, over the next four years, consist of 79,65% black, 8,96% coloured, 2,5% Indian and 8,1% white police members. “Proficient police members are passed over for appointments and promotions merely due to the colour of their skin. The SAPS sees a workforce that is not black enough; we see people and families living in fear and who are not safe enough,” Groenewald said. Solidarity is currently disputing the legality of this plan in the Labour Court.
Groenewald believes that in certain departments in the police, only black candidates have been appointed, even though candidates of other race groups with more expertise and experience had applied for the same positions. “From the approximately 50 new appointments over the past year in the crime intelligence unit of the police, only one of the candidates was a coloured person; the rest were all black. Therefore, no white or Indian candidates have been appointed. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the SAPS is putting people’s lives at stake by appointing police members simply based on the colour of their skin, and not on the basis of their knowledge and experience,” Groenewald said.
Adv. Dirk Groenewald, head of Solidarity’s Centre for Fair Labour Practices, said it was disturbing that the SAPS, in the midst of a 10% and 11, 5% rise in murders and house robberies respectively in Gauteng, continued to appoint people based on race rather than expertise and experience. “It is evident from the SAPS’s latest employment equity plan for the period 1 January 2015 to 21 December 2019 that the police has committed itself anew to meet certain racial targets and that candidates’ skills are not a priority for the police at all,” Groenewald said.
According to these plans, the police’s workforce must, over the next four years, consist of 79,65% black, 8,96% coloured, 2,5% Indian and 8,1% white police members. “Proficient police members are passed over for appointments and promotions merely due to the colour of their skin. The SAPS sees a workforce that is not black enough; we see people and families living in fear and who are not safe enough,” Groenewald said. Solidarity is currently disputing the legality of this plan in the Labour Court.
Groenewald believes that in certain departments in the police, only black candidates have been appointed, even though candidates of other race groups with more expertise and experience had applied for the same positions. “From the approximately 50 new appointments over the past year in the crime intelligence unit of the police, only one of the candidates was a coloured person; the rest were all black. Therefore, no white or Indian candidates have been appointed. We, therefore, are of the opinion that the SAPS is putting people’s lives at stake by appointing police members simply based on the colour of their skin, and not on the basis of their knowledge and experience,” Groenewald said.
