Findings of the SAPS Organisational Climate Survey: SAPS & Police Unions Input; with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

Opening Remarks

The Chairperson opened the virtual meeting, welcoming Members and the South Africa Police Services and related stakeholders. She congratulated the Committee on the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill that has been referred to the National Assembly. The Committee will follow up with the President's office to ensure that it is signed as soon as possible. It is remarkable that the Members were united in supporting the Bill.

The Chairperson said that she had received a number of complaints from Mrs Kinnear, the wife of the late Lt Col Charl Kinnear. It is unfortunate that Mrs Kinnear has the perception that the Committee is not doing enough to get to the bottom of the case of her late husband and that the Committee had not dealt with her second petition. The Chairperson said that she assured Mrs Kinnear that the Committee has been receiving monthly reports, and that the second petition has not been referred to the Committee from the Speaker’s office. Petitions can only be addressed or attended to by the Committee once it is referred by the Speaker’s office to the Committee.

There was another concern about an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) report that was sent to the Minister; this report is with the Minister and not with the Committee. Reports are first processed before it is sent to the Committee. The Committee has no power to instruct the National Commissioner or the South African Police Service (SAPS) when it comes to operational matters. The Committee has no power to instruct the SAPS to offer Mrs Kinnear and her family security; it is the responsibility of the SAPS. If the Committee interferes it would be perceived as a political influence, which will create problems for the Committee. She asked that the Committee not be expected to intervene on the matter of security; security is offered to members of the public after a risk assessment, which is done regularly and not made public.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) agreed with the Chairperson’s comments. He said that people often misunderstand what the Committee can or cannot do. The Committee should appeal to the police to ensure that there is good communication with Mrs Kinnear, so that she understands exactly what is going on.

Committee Minutes

The Committee considered and adopted its minutes of 25 May 2022.

Deputy Minister’s Remarks

The Deputy Minister of Police, Mr Cassel Mathale, said that it was an honour for him to be part of the delegation that will interact with the Committee on the SAPS Organisational Climate Survey that was conducted by SAPS. The survey will help SAPS understand the state of affairs within the organisation, and how it should respond to those challenges to ensure that the morale of its members is in the right space for them to execute their constitutional mandate of keeping the country safe.

He thanked the Members of the Committee for their support of the Criminal Law (Forensic Procedures) Amendment Bill. He assured the Members that, as soon as the President assents to the Bill, SAPS will do its best to ensure that it is implemented.

Briefing on the 2021 SAPS Organisational Climate Survey

Lt. Gen. Dineo Ntshiea, Divisional Commissioner: Human Resource Management, SAPS, said that the presentation outlines some of the interventions that the SAPS have already put in place to address some of the issues raised in the report. The well-being of its employees remains a priority for the SAPS.

The presentation covered career pathing, career development, promotion policy, recruitment, retention policy, retirement strategy, SAPS resources, morale of SAPS members, SAPS employee health and wellness, corporate communication, recognition at work and rewards, job satisfaction and the implementation plan. The presentation also covered the additional information requested by the Committee such as suicide/femicide, payment of overtime and support from legal services.

SAPS Employee Health and Wellness (EHW):

• Currently, the SAPS EHW has a total of 621 personnel nationally, which is not enough to cover the entire SAPS population.
• The SAPS will continue to capacitate the EHW through additional personnel and budget in order to professionalise its service offerings.
• The EHW programmes and interventions will continuously be reviewed and enhanced in line with the organisational need. To cover more ground, the EHW will continue to strengthen its partnership with its health partners, organised labour and corporate partners.

[See presentation for more details]

Chairperson’s comments

The Chairperson asked that the SAPS and police union’s presentations be made public. She is concerned that the 2021 SAPS Organisational Climate Survey has not been made public; it is difficult for the Committee to follow the presentations because the Members do not have the survey. She asked that, once presentations are done, the SAPS also present the actual findings of the survey, so that the presentation is within the context of the content of the study. The public needs to know the true picture of what is happening.

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) Input on Matters Relating to the SAPS Organisational Climate Survey

Ms Tryphina Phihlela, Senior Researcher, POPCRU, made the following submissions:

Promotion and Grade Progression

POPCRU submits that the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) Agreement Two of 2011 must be implemented to eliminate the upward mobility backlog and further ensure that the SAPS members are duly promoted and grade progressed. This will resolve the challenge presented by the majority of participants who indicated they have been on the same rank for a period of more than ten years and above.

Health and Wellness Programmes

POPCRU submits that the EHW services should be reviewed, and that there should be experienced and relevant professionals to psychologically support SAPS members.

Compensation Package

POPCRU proposed that the danger allowance be increased to R1500 and be paid retrospectively from 2020. It is further proposed that this danger allowance should be increased annually based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

It is proposed that the current R1 600 uniform allowance must be increased to at least R3 000 for both uniform and non-uniform members.

Resources and Working Environment

POPCRU suggested that apart from employing extra police officers, SAPS must properly implement Agreement Two of 2011, particularly Part D Clause 5.2. This will ensure that almost 30 000 trained police officers, who are employed under the Public Service Act (PSA) currently doing administrative functions in offices, are released to fight crime on the ground. Moreover, the process of incorporating Public Service Act appointees into a category of the SAPS Act and the required legislative amendments must be finalised, so as to ensure that SAPS employees are governed by one Act. Additionally, the responsibility of building and maintaining buildings should be transferred from the Department of Public Works to SAPS to effectively address infrastructural challenges.

[See presentation document for more details]

The South African Policing Union (SAPU) Input on Matters Relating to SAPS Organisational Climate Survey

SAPU concurred with the findings of the survey, such that a large percentage of the participants are dissatisfied with the promotion process and career progression opportunities, overtime benefits as well as the service allowance. These findings are in line with the feedback that the SAPU receives when the union interact with SAPS members.

The Union agrees with the recommendation that SAPS should review its current career pathing, career development and promotion policy. It has advocated for the service allowance to be adjusted to R12 000 per month and to be linked to the annual Consumer Price Index adjustment.

SAPU supports the recommendation that the SAPS should strengthen its recruitment, retention and retirement strategies with clear policy directives. The trainee model, currently being implemented by SAPS, needs to be revisited in its totality.

[See presentation document for more detail

The Independent Policing Union of South Africa (IPUSA) Input on Matters Relating to SAPS Organisational Climate Survey

The presentation by IPUSA called for the full participation of all key stakeholders to ensure that SAPS has an organisational design that will respond to the challenges identified.

IPUSA recommended that the SAPS must be assisted to rebuild the human resources management environment, based on the principle of empowering managers at the district level in order to account and deploy resources in an integrated manner.

It is also recommended that the SAPS and SSSBC must relook into the engagement with SAPS management on human resource management policy matters; so much has been signed but so little addresses correct implementation.

[See presentation document for more details]

Discussion

Mr O Terblanche (DA) said that there is a definite divide, because the SAPS presented the ideal situation that differed from the police unions’ presentations. It is known that everything in the SAPS is not fine. The SAPS spoke of the competency of its members. However, when approaching police stations, there are some members that have not passed their firearms test, do not have driver's licences, and do not know the laws and legislation that are applicable to them on the ground.

The SAPS Organisational Climate Survey revealed that its members are unhappy. He observed that 8 607 members would be promoted in terms of the policies, which would be a golden opportunity to ensure that the police are professionalised.

He is not satisfied with the current situation. The Minister and National Commissioner would have to take note of what was presented to the Committee, because the SAPS and police unions are not on the same page.

Mr H Shembeni (EFF) asked about the security guards in KwaZulu-Natal that were enlisted in 2008 but do not know their job descriptions to date. He asked that SAPS provide clarity on their job descriptions and why these security guards were not incorporated into the SAPS like the reservists.

He said that he was concerned about the promotion issues, particularly for those members that are stuck at the warrant officer rank. He asked how long it takes for a police officer to be promoted to the next rank. He recalled that there was a promotion policy so that members would not be stuck on a rank for too long. If they did not have any cases pending against them, then they should be promoted.

He asked how stress and depression were regarded in the SAPS. He asked whether this was regarded as an injury off-duty. Most of the SAPS members experience stress and depression due to the work conditions. He asked what would happen if a SAPS member became stressed to such an extent that he/she could no longer carry on with their work.

He observed that IPUSA indicated that the SAPS structure is top-heavy. What has the IPUSA done to address this? He said that the officials that are within the top structure of the SAPS are also POPCRU members. POPCRU will not question their colleagues in the top structure of the SAPS, which is why nothing is happening and the members on the ground are suffering. This had started in 1999, when POPCRU members promoted themselves into the high ranks of the SAPS without qualifications. He said that the SAPS has many constables, sergeants and captains that have diplomas and degrees but are not considered for promotions in the leadership structures.

On the 5 000 post promotions, he asked how many post promotions are from warrant officer to captain. He asked which ranks had the most members stuck in those positions for more than ten years.

He questioned why there has not been an increase in the danger allowance and said that the uniform allowance of R1 600 is insufficient to cover all of the uniform items.

Dr P Groenewald (FF+) referred to the research methodology of the survey. He said that the survey had 1 582 respondents, but the majority were administrative staff. It must be noted that 53% of the respondents felt that the police are dishonest. About 47.28% felt that the police do not conduct themselves ethically; 54.11% felt that the police abused their power; 47.72% felt that the police conducted themselves unprofessionally; 51.39% felt that the police are not self-disciplined. These are serious matters. If more than half of the respondents think that the police are dishonest then he would request specific answers from the SAPS on how it will address these issues. If the employees of the police service itself say that the police are dishonest and that the police conduct themselves unethically and abuse their power, then how would the public feel? It is no wonder that in other surveys, the public trust in the police decreased to 27%. This is a serious problem.

In terms of the opportunities for future career progression, 68.46% of the respondents are dissatisfied. There are SAPS members who have been in positions for more than ten years, with no promotion. He requested that the Committee receive a detailed analysis of all SAPS employees, in terms of how long they have been in the same positions, and according to the race groups. He expressed that the SAPS has a trend to discriminate specifically against white people. There have been several court cases where white officers have been accused of using the ‘k-word’; this has been found to be untrue in court, and those officers left the police services. He requested that the SAPS provide the Committee with the cases where false accusations have been made towards specific race groups because race has become a conflict point in the SAPS.

Ms G Marekwa (ANC) said that, although the SAPS has done a lot over the years, the presentations and recommendations show that a lot needs to be done. The environment in which the police operate is challenging and taxing. Most of the recommendations do not have timeframes of when they should be implemented.  For the SAPS to gain back the respect and trust of the communities, it needs to review some of its existing policies and internal processes. The communities are becoming impatient and seeking other ways to take the law into their own hands, which cannot be encouraged.

She said that the SAPS need to look into how its vetting process will be strengthened, in order to ensure that the members who enter the SAPS are really there to serve and fight crime. She agreed with the police unions that the working conditions of the SAPS members must be seriously addressed, or else there will continue to be low morale amongst members of the SAPS. She said that the EHW services should have experienced professionals to provide continuous psychological support to the SAPS members because the work environment is taxing on SAPS employees. EHW services should also ensure confidentiality.

Mr A Seabi (ANC) said that the presentations and comments have been an emotive discussion. There is not enough time in this meeting to deal with the issues to its finality. There are stakeholders who have been invited to the meeting that contribute to the well-being and betterment of police officers. He suggested that the Committee should have a strategic session with all of the stakeholders to deal with these issues because it seems as if there is no continuous communication between SAPS management and the police unions. He agreed that the policies need to be reviewed to ensure that it is able to respond to the environment in which the SAPS operates, and to respond to the challenges that it is faced with.

The Chairperson agreed that the Committee would not be able to attend to all of the challenges raised in this meeting. The Committee would need more than one session on this to interrogate the input of SAPS more carefully. There is a huge disjuncture between what the SAPS had said and what the police unions had said. She suggested that the Committee first engage with the SAPS in a meeting that is open to the public, so the police unions would be welcome to join the meeting.

Deputy Minister Response

The Deputy Minister said that the SAPS Organisational Climate Survey was commissioned by the National Commissioner to get an understanding and to deal with the areas of weakness within the organisation. It was an internal process intended to assist the institution to reposition itself; there was no intention to make a public statement about the state of the SAPS. The presentation was prepared, as it was requested by the Committee for SAPS to present the findings of the survey.

The SAPS has accepted the outcome of the survey as a true reflection of what is pertaining in its environment and as an introspection of what is happening. The SAPS management is committed to addressing the issues that have been identified. The SAPS will engage with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that it implements the recommendations and appropriately respond to the areas of weaknesses.

SAPS Response

Lt. Gen. FN Vuma, Deputy National Commissioner: Support Services, said that the SAPS Organisational Climate Survey was done internally, with the objection of doing its own introspection of how the organisation is doing, and whether its workforce is motivated or demotivated. The survey was conducted by the SAPS research component. The outcome of the survey was intended to assist the SAPS to put measures in place to correct itself and for policies to be reviewed – for example, the promotion policy. The promotion policy needs to be reviewed, because it makes mention of the fact that the SAPS members who have qualifications need to be promoted on a two-year basis, and those without qualifications on a four-year basis. However, the financial constraints of the organisation make it difficult to follow the promotion policy. Hence, there are a number of members who are stuck in the same rank for a number of years. After SAPS had realised that the promotional policy is not working properly based on the financial and budgetary constraint, there was some agreement where there would at least be grade progression. The members should at least have ten years from being a constable to a sergeant, and from sergeant to warrant officer. Thereafter, it would depend on the availability of supervisory posts and on a competitive basis; this also depends on the availability of funding. There was also a backlog with grade progressions. From 2018 to March 2022, a total number of 60 382 employees were promoted or grade progressed. Approximately 5 000 promotions and 8 607 grade progressions are planned for the 2022/2023 financial year.

In terms of work-related stress, she said that each case is considered according to its own merit. Where there is clear evidence that members experience stress because of their exposure to horrendous situations and crime-related matters then the stress is regarded as injuries on-duty, the process of dealing with injuries on-duty then unfolds according to the policies. She said that the SAPS management is also concerned about the danger allowance that has been R400 since 2001. The SAPS members actually receive less than R400 because the amount is taxed; there are similar concerns that the uniform allowance is insufficient. A committee has been put in place to look into how best SAPS can deal with these issues.

She has taken note of Dr Groenewald’s questions, and said that the information will be provided in detail. She agreed that there are policies that need to be reviewed. In as far as the employment and vetting processes, she said that the SAPS have ensured that, before it employs the new recruits, their details are taken for buccal sampling.

The wellness issues have been highly emphasised. The presentation reflects that, out of the whole establishment, SAPS only has 621 EHW personnel nationally. There is a need to capacitate the EHW services, because it is currently not able to reach the entire SAPS population.

Lt. Gen. L Ntshinga, Deputy National Commissioner: Crime Detection, SAPS, said that the SAPS would want all of its members vetted, but there are serious shortages in the vetting component. The vetting processes only focus on specific units and divisions, such as the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), supply chain, forensics and also at the recruitment level and senior management. The SAPS are in the process of capacitating the vetting component so that it can be extended into other critical areas.

Lt. Gen. Ntshiea asked that the SAPS provide a written response to address the question of the security guards that were enlisted in 2008. In terms of the post promotions, the SAPS are mainly targeting the non-commissioned officers. From 2018 to date, there have been 51 640 promotions of non-commissioned officers.

There are prescripts that direct the SAPS in terms of members that are injured on duty; each case is dealt with on its own merit.

Maj. Gen. (Dr) PR Vuma, Component Head: Research, SAPS, said that the sample size of 151 552 is scientifically an acceptable size. The total number of SAPS members that responded is 79.8%, which is higher than that of the PSA members.

POPCRU Response

An official from POPCRU urged that all stakeholders focus on the task at hand. He agreed that there is a disjuncture between the SAPS and stakeholders. The presentation by POPCRU has set the tone for the engagements, as most of the points have been rehashed. The SAPS and SSSBC have signed very progressive and collective agreements, but there is a challenge with the implementation of those agreements, which might assist in these particular matters. POPCRU are willing to work with the SAPS and other stakeholders to make a meaningful contribution towards uplifting the morale of the SAPS members.

SAPU Response

An official from SAPU said that the lack of promotion policy review should be addressed as soon as possible to uplift the morale of the union members. Moving forward, it is requested that the SAPS should engage with SAPU when it conducts such surveys, in order for SAPU to make a meaningful contribution as a stakeholder.

IPUSA Response

Mr Bethuel Nkuna, President, IPUSA, said that the question by Mr Shembeni, in terms of questioning the two Acts within one organisation, is a relevant point. He questioned how the SAPS continues to have confusion about two Acts within the same organisation, particularly when there is a signed agreement that addresses this particular problem. IPUSA questions the effectiveness of the SSSBC in terms of their own signed agreements. He said that the PSA members are the most discontent members in terms of promotion policies, as they do not have career paths and policies. There is a significant amount of PSA members who have been in the SAPS for more than 20 years with the same salary level.

SAPS is the most regulated organisation with strict policies but it has problems with implementation. Most of the ills within the SAPS are centred around human resource management. The top management of SAPS has been unstable for the past 14 years. The constant redeployment and unending restructuring of senior managers create inconsistencies.

Agreement Two, 2011, stipulates that all PSA members should be incorporated into the SAPS Act. The non-implementation of this agreement has led to insults amongst members on the ground. These matters should have been resolved a long time ago. IPUSA recommends that Agreement Two should be implemented.

On the top-heavy structure, the SAPS currently have 36 lieutenant generals that cost the state an average of R72 million per annum in salary. To address these issues, IPUSA proposes that, as PSA members are incorporated into the SAPS Act, SAPS should run two parallel structures – one which is operational and one for support. With this proposal, the top-heavy structure will be reduced, and the funds could be better utilised where it is needed the most.

Closing Remarks

The Deputy Minister said that the 2021 SAPS Organisational Climate Survey will be used to respond to the issues that Committee has raised. It is in the interest of the country to ensure that the SAPS functions at its optimum and it can only do so if it acknowledges its weaknesses.

The Chairperson thanked the SAPS and different stakeholders for their presentations; the Committee has certainly learnt a lot. She said that, once the Committee commits itself to oversee a particular matter, it will do so consistently and until it sees the results.

She informed the Members that the Committee had requested several monthly reports from SAPS. For now, she has made the decision that all reports should be provided to the Committee on a quarterly basis to allow SAPS to do their work. In some instances, there is very little movement in the reports on a month-to-month basis, which places a huge burden on SAPS to process the reports. If there are certain reports that the Members would still like to receive on a monthly basis, the Members can indicate that to her.

The meeting was adjourned.