Warren Potter
Dear Minister Cele,
A growing number of South Africans are concerned with our country’s state of policing and public security. I hope that you can provide some feedback on the following:
Ministry Accommodation
Sir, you were recently asked how much you, your deputy and the SAPS had spent on accommodation since you took office on May 29, 2019. You replied that your ministry had spent R7.5 million from April 1, 2019 until June 17, 2022.
Minister Cele, let’s examine your figure more closely: R7.5m of taxpayers’ money over this 38.57 month period equates to R194 466.77 a month. Are you aware that your department’s accommodation spending would be enough for you or another member of your team to stay in the Royal Suite at the Sandton Hilton Hotel at current rates, not for a week, a month or a year, but for the full duration of the your included period? And you would still have a daily amount of R1 647.42 left over after the hotel bill!
This extreme example paints a picture. Let me repeat it, Minister Cele. With your acknowledged spending, you or a member of your department could have enjoyed an uninterrupted three-year, two-month and 17-day stint in one of the most luxurious hotel suites in South Africa. What’s more, there would still have been R1 934,071.08 left over after settling the bill. Considering this, please explain to South Africa how you and your staff could spend R7.5m of taxpayers’ money on accommodation alone over this period?
It would also interest South Africans to know whether any of the R813 942.59 spent on the 2021 trip to Turkey made by yourself and almost a dozen officers is included in this accommodation figure?
By the way sir, your department managed to spend almost three times as much as the average police station over the same period. Working on the official 2019/20 figure, 1 154 police stations existed in South Africa at the time. The figures you released state that the rest of the SAPS spent approximately R1.5 billion on accommodation over the same period. This amounts to just over R2 200 per per police station per day – your department alone managed to spend R6 388.42 daily.
SA Murder Rate
You recently said the following about the South African murder rate:
“The number of murders in this country remains high and worrisome: 6 424 people were killed by other persons in the country in the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year. This is an increase of 664 more people murdered, compared to the same period last year, when the country was placed under (the Covid-19) lockdown level one and two,”
“Worrisome” is understating matters somewhat, isn’t it, sir? statista.com figures show that South Africa has the eighth highest murder rate (per 100 000 inhabitants) in the world this year. Our country has experienced an 11.53% increase in homicides over a single year and you believe this is merely “worrisome”? It is tragic, devastating and avoidable, minister.
Metaphorically, much innocent blood is on your hands, sir. A well-manned and equipped, fully-functional national police force would ensure minimal chances of further murder escalation. South Africa doesn’t seem to be at that point yet though.
What are the reasons for the escalation? Please don’t answer that it’s because the country is no longer in lockdown. The 2017 worldwide murder statistics, long before the advent of Covid-19, ranked South Africa in 10th position and the statistics are getting worse. Last year, from April to June, over 63 daily murders took place in South Africa. This year over 70 people were murdered a day during the same period. Will these statistics improve in 2023?
When you compare the country’s visible policing budget to last year, along with the number of SAPS members on South Africa’s streets and the state of disrepair of too many police vehicles in the country, it’s difficult to predict any improvement for some time. The responsibility for bringing down the murder rate lies at your door, Minister Cele. How do you intend reversing the current trend?
Budgets & Personnel
The visible policing budget has decreased for the second straight year. With the general escalation of crime, and the murder rate being a topical example, did it make sense to reduce this?
“The number of personnel was expected to decrease from 181 344 in 2020/21 to 162 945 in 2023/24, due to natural attrition. Given the significant impact of the reductions on compensation of employees, non‐critical vacant posts will not be filled.” – South African Government
SAPS personnel numbers have decreased annually and, with more reductions predicted and lower visible policing budgets, questions about SAPS service delivery are being raised. Personnel have decreased from almost 200 000 members in 2011/12, with the anticipated number of about 163 000 members in 2023/24 meaning a reduction of nearly 19% has taken place in 12 years. With serious crime increasing, such reductions place greater risks and psychological pressures on the brave men and women assigned to protect South Africans.
Increased danger levels mean that recruiting new police personnel at salaries ranging between R8 500 and R17 000 a month will become even more difficult. South Africans can expect further SAPS staff reductions and greater chances of slower police reaction times. Hence, chances of becoming a victim of crime will increase.
Please explain what “non-critical vacant posts” are, minister? Despite not filling “non-critical vacant posts”, the overall police budget was raised by R225m in 2022, while the visible policing budget was further reduced. If “non-critical” posts are not being filled, surely the budget for these posts should be decreased and further “critical” police members trained? It would make sense to increase the visible policing budget to cater for further “critical” police officers, wouldn’t it? The current reasoning doesn’t seem logical.
Police Vehicles
In August you commented how a shortage of police vehicles was hindering efforts to tighten policing and improve response times. Sir, the buck stops with you and using this excuse only creates public uncertainty about whether you can do your job. The police vehicle problem is not new.
In February you revealed that 1 169 vehicles were out of service in Gauteng alone. In March KwaZulu-Natal’s Transport & Community Safety MEC, Peggy Nkonyeni, stated that 1 716 police vehicles out of a total of 4 227 in the province were being repaired. That means that 40.6% of the total police vehicles in KwaZulu-Natal were not in use.
Your August comment infers that nothing has changed. The above-mentioned figures mean that capable policemen and women will have difficulty doing their jobs if the vehicles you provide are in poor or non-working condition. To point fingers at them is unfair and, as already stated, the buck stops with you, minister. Making excuses won’t change this.
A time for drastic improvement … or change
Minister Cele, the above points all have one thing in common. That common factor is you, sir.
You are responsible for the accommodation spending. The “worrisome” murder rate has grown under your watch. As Minister of Police, you had much to do with decreasing the visible policing budget, and hence the continued SAPS staff reduction too. And sir, you should not be using non-functional vehicles as an excuse for the police’s response times. You should be finding solutions for problems like these and not trying to shift blame.
Telling concerned citizens to “shut up” is never going to help, minister. We need solutions to the long-standing problems that aren’t showing any signs of abating. Solutions should include the curb of unnecessary and extravagant spending and overdue action on the pressing staff shortages and budget restraints. You also urgently need to make sure the SAPS has fully-functional and reliable vehicles at its disposal.
Minister Cele, if you are unwilling or unable to find solutions, is it not time to consider allowing somebody else to try?
Yours in urgent and effective policing.
*Warren Potter is a Gauteng-based freelance journalist and writer.
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