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