Question NW2333 to the Minister of Police

Reply:

(a)(i) A web-based application system has been developed to calculate the number of human resource posts, per level, that are required to perform the duties associated with police stations. The system is called the Theoretical Human Resource Requirement (THRR). The system was developed, whereby ratio analyses and standard times were established for the activities or tasks performed at police stations. Direct work measurement, in the form of time studies and activity sampling, as well as indirect work measurement, in the form of analytical estimates, was used to determine standard times for these policing activities or tasks. The determining of a human resource allocation for police stations in the South African Police Service (SAPS), is a dynamic process, which is influenced by various factors (variables), the internal environment, the external environment as well as taking contingency factors (i.e. absence/leave from duty) into account.

The level of the station commander is determined according to the job weight range (calculated theoretical ideal number of posts) associated with the level of a station commander post. A benchmark exercise was conducted to determine a correlation between the THRR system and the Equate Job Evaluation System, which is utilised for the grading of posts in the broader public service and the outcome thereof, indicates a high correlation (96%) between the two systems. The table below depicts the job weight ranges for station commander level, as determined by the THRR and Equate Job Evaluation Systems:

STATION COMMANDER LEVEL	JOB WEIGHT RANGE THRR	JOB WEIGHT RANGE EQUATE SYSTEM
	LOWER LIMIT	UPPER LIMIT	GRADE (PUBLIC SERVICE ACT)	GRADE (POLICE SERVICE ACT)	MINIMUM	MAXIMUM
8 – Captain	36	90	8	BAND C (Captain)	454	506
10 - Lieutenant Colonel	91	180	9	BAND D (Lieutenant Colonel)	507	559
			10		560	611
12 – Colonel	181	360	11	MMS Band (Colonel)	612	663
			12		664	716
13 – Brigadier	361	Higher	13	SMS1 Band (Brigadier)	717	769

(ii)(aa)(bb) The weight and grading of the post of a station commander (Colonel and Brigadier included) and the lower-level command structure, is based on the evaluation of various factors including crime, environmental factors and policing activities. These will have a definite impact on the factors considered:

• • • Developments in the regulatory framework – in relation to changes to the legislation of the country (By-laws, Traffic Ordinance, Amendments to Acts/Statutes and all other applicable legislation, that will have a direct impact on policing at local level);
    • Environmental developments/factors - New developments in the country in the external environment, for instance: the migration rate, increasing unemployment rate, mushrooming of informal settlements, the integration of undocumented people into the population density factor and residential and business developments, are constantly having an impact on policing methods and human resourcing at local level;
    • Organisational developments – in relation to the need to enhance service delivery at local level;
    • Management needs – in relation to functions that must be added at local level policing to ultimately enhance service delivery;
    • Norms, per type of crime and patterns;
    • Contingency allowances – rest allowances and absenteeism;
    • Demographic layout of a police station area - urban/rural/urban rural mix settlement types;
    • Infrastructure in a police station area;
    • Area size of a police area;
    • Population dynamics;
    • Police station infrastructure; and
    • Distances travelled to courts/places of safety/health and forensic laboratories/mortuaries and correctional facilities.

The annual application of the THRR for police stations, is essential to determine the personnel requirement in a standardised method. This is, however, affected by the fixed establishment (FE), which is purely dependent on the availability of funds, in terms of the current budget and the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF). Currently, the SAPS is not able to fund the theoretical requirements for police stations, due to budgetary constraints.

(b) Minimum human resource implication at a Colonel level is 181 personnel and the maximum is 360 personnel. The minimum human resource implication at a Brigadier level is 361 and higher.

Most of the police stations are barely capacitated at their minimum human resource requirement, due to budgetary constraints e.g. a Colonel police station which requires a minimum of 181 personnel, is currently capacitated at 150.

An analysis of a three year comparison of police stations’ THRR, must be conducted. Police stations, whose results are calculated above the upper limit of its assigned category, after a period of three consecutive years, must be considered for upgrading. The rule is that police stations must at least be capacitated to the maximum of their current category, before they can be considered for upgrading (bottom-up approach). Due to the fact that the SAPS is not receiving additional posts, most of the qualifying police stations are upgraded without meeting this requirement (top-down approach), hence the majority of police stations are not capacitated at their minimum requirements.