Post on 18-Jan-2016
PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
ON POLICE
TOPIC: SAPS PROMOTION POLICE
AND THE TOP HEAVY STRUCTURE
APPOINTMENT OF THE NEW NATIONAL COMMISSIONER
Congratulations and welcome 1st black female National Commissioner in the
history of South Africa Capability of women to lead in strategic
positions of the government, particularly law enforcement sector
Deal effectively with SAPS budgetary and other financial challenges
NEW APPOINTMENT FOR THE FORMER PORTFOLIO COMMTTEE’S CHAIRPERSON
Honourable L S Chikunga Congratulations;
Appreciate the role she played as the Chairperson;
Best wishes
Police Act Public Service Act Total No. of Police Stations
National Head Office Stats 18425
Eastern Cape 19173 4776 23949 191
Northern Cape 6448 1936 8384 83
Free State 11593 2809 14402 110
KwaZulu-Natal 24136 5615 29751 183
North West 9377 2291 11668 94
Mpumalanga 9399 2255 11654 86
Limpopo 11668 2630 14298 89
Gauteng 34885 7056 41941 127
Western Cape 19670 4665 24335 146
Graphical Representation of the above table
Challenges facing SAPS informed by the top heavy structure
• Core business of the SAPS is to prevent and combat crime, budget and resources must be channeled as such instead of the current diversion of funds to the top heavy structure;
• Violation of the Batho Pele Principle;• Senior positions created at the pinnacle of the
structure at DDG level;• Positions are a duplication of services with
adverse effects on the budget;
Challenges continues…
SAPS will do much better with a lean and mean
structure with bigger personnel at station level
Bloated structure impacts negatively on SAPS prospects
of adequately employing and distributing sufficient
personnel at station level;
SAPS structure should be redesigned to ensure synergy,
accountability, cost effectiveness and efficient
functioning of the department;
Revised structure should incorporate decentralization
of work & authority, with specialized skills at station
level;
Challenges continues…
Department must merge components that render
similar services to avoid unnecessary duplication of
services;
Sufficient funds should be invested in the field of
training & development of officers at all levels
instead of feeding the top heavy structure;
Allocation of budget to prerequisite resources and
equipment's for the police officers to meet their
constitutional obligation, i.e. prioritization of well
capacitated police stations at rural areas; Police
stations should be easily accessible in rural areas;
Consequences of the top heavy structureUnnecessary duplication of functions which renders
the department inoperable in terms of effective service delivery;
The bulk of the budget, as already indicated, is consumed at this level;
Such an arrangement makes an administrative nightmare and unnecessary delay in decision-making processes;
This structure has only managed to serve and create a long red tape that does not translate to meaningful programs that the department is supposed to implement;
Consequences continues…
This bloated structure squeezes the department’s prospects of sufficient staffing at the station level where manpower is really needed;
The consequence of this challenge is the department’s inability to positively respond to the challenge of its mandate – crime combating and prevention.
Recommendations SAPS Head Office should be regarded as a policy making
body;
A flatter organizational structure required for effective
service delivery;
Funds should be channeled to the improvement and
capacitating of police station;
Authority should be decentralized along with specialized
skills that should be available at the Station level;
Restructuring should be directed at reducing the provincial
and national structures, & clusters must be dissolved
SAPS should recruit quality above quantity& ensure
effective, disciplined skills development of recruits
Recommendations continues… SAPS should enhance both gender and equity representation
as part of transformation; Crime investigation should be augmented by improving of
forensic and criminal record capacities and providing of actionable crime intelligence
Law enforcement agencies must be integrated under one command as per section 199 and 205 of the 1996 Constitution;
Criminal Justice System must be regarded as a “system”, not the current accidental assemblage of desperate & disconnected elements, it should be a system.
Inputs on Promotion Policy Since 2005, SAPS had no Promotion Policy, National
instructions were used as a tool for upward mobility This resulted in a deadlock that led to members spending
approximately 10 – 15 on the same rank SAPS reintroduced military ranks in 2010, this resulted in a
serious challenge as SAPS did not have a proper criteria to promote members to these ranks;
A new Promotion Policy was then introduced as a signed agreement to ease promotion challenges within the department;
This agreement was aimed at ensuring fair and equitable promotion amongst all employees;
It also addresses backlog of approximately 45000 Inspectors who were stuck for more than 20-30 years in the same rank
Promotion Policy cont… This Promotion Policy was divided into four Parts: Part A: Introduction of Lieutenant and Major Ranks, this part
was implemented as per the prescripts of the agreement; Part B: Promotion Policy was concluded on the 1st of
September 2011; Part C: Development of a new compensation model to
accommodate new ranks and the revised promotion policy, this part was not implemented due to financial difficulties from the department;
Part D: Grade progression was made part of the policy for lower ranks (Constables & Sergeants) so that they can be able to progress financially through salary levels
Promotion Policy cont… This Policy did not make any impact due to the
unavailability of a revised salary structure; More still needs to be done to ensure that have been loyal
to SAPS can be fairly promoted; There must be a revised salary structure that will clearly
distinguish seniority in terms of levels and ranks; Constables and Sergeants must also have clearly stipulated
entry levels; There’s a crucial need for a compensatory framework for
scarce skills
Promotion Policy cont…
POPCU recommend the following: There should be a budget set aside for promotion to new
ranks; There should be a budget for grade progression; New salary structure must be developed to accommodate all
this new development; There must be a new salary for public service members who
are supposed to be incorporated by the department; A clear promotion programme for each financial year should
be developed; and The department must fill all vacant funded positions;
In conclusion Honourable members, despite these challenges, we find it
crucial for the department to improve the conditions of service for our men and women in blue and ensure that they are remunerated in a manner that boosts their morale and instils a sense of dignity. POPCRU has made this input to the Committee in the past, and we re-iterate on it once again.
It will also be of value if SAPS could make more efforts to promote gender equity by developing and appointing more women in management positions. In addition to this, the department should endeavour to achieve the two percent target of people with disabilities as it is surely capacitated with lots of competent women who are skilled and have the determination to be developed and render effective service to the South Africans.
Conclusion cont… This promotion procedure should be properly implemented as dysfunctional promotion whereby individuals are promoted into
posts beyond their levels of competence results in junior members with superior knowledge and skill struggling to recognise the authority of their incompetent superiors.
The SA Police Service should review each individuals job according to its worth and actual need. This must be done from the top down and the funds saved in ridding the Service of those in unnecessary positions and those not qualified to be in the Service can be used to narrow the wage gap between the lower ranks, thereby attracting a more professional individual into the Service. The second leg pay scale that was in effect in the past whereby Inspectors could proceed on pension on the salary of a Superintendent can then again be accommodated and the officer subordinate ratio can again be attained.
THANK YOU