Police Absenteeism to be Investigated

Media Release
22 April 2008

In a bid to improve the performance of police across the province, Mpumalanga Safety and Security MEC Fish Mahlalela will set up a task team to analyse the hours each station commissioner spent at their stations between April 2007 and March 2008. Mahlalela believes that there might be a link between the amount of time spent and the poor performance of the stations.

This was announced at a meeting held between Ehlanzeni business people and Mahlalela in Nelspruit on Monday, 21 April 2008.

Mahlalela further said that the absence of proper management at stations such as Matsulu Police Station has an impact on the performance of the station. He partly attributed the problem to the fact that most of the police officers at Matsulu are locally based and therefore they are unwilling to deal decisively with criminals who are known to them.

However, the MEC noted with joy the fact that in Ehlanzeni Region, Masoyi is one of the best performing stations because of the commitment and leadership displayed by the current station management. Specific crimes trends as detected by the police have shown a decline at the station.

The purpose of the meeting was to encourage the business community to partner with the department in an all round offensive against crime. Business people can assist by among others, adopting police stations, assisting with resources for crime prevention initiatives and also by enlisting as police reservists in various categories. Mahlalela told delegates that the initiative is part of mass mobilization of communities against crime.

Business people who were present at the meeting welcomed Mahlalela’s gesture, and among their concerns, were that some police officers are corrupt and are colluding with criminals. They are also not treating information provided to them with confidence and this compromises the safety of community members.

Meanwhile Mahlalela told Mpumalanga station commissioners last Friday to protect the citizens of the province against crime, and that they must be brutal and instill fear to criminals who are terrorizing law abiding citizens.

“By so doing, we would be fulfilling our obligation and responsibility to lead in the fight against crime which is a threat to our democracy,” Mahlalela said.

He was talking to more than 80 station commissioners who attended a workshop in Badplaas.

Mahlalela told the police chiefs that in the spirit of business unusual, they should be marshalling junior officials at their respective policing areas in order to win the fight against crime.

He warned that as long as some station commissioners were not known by their communities and not found at their stations at all times, there would not be any significant change in policing in the province.

“I am a witness because I have visited several stations within the province and station heads where no where to be found. The officers on duty were unable to reveal the whereabouts of the chiefs, while others mentioned that they seldom see commissioners at their stations. In some instances where you find a station commissioner, you will be convinced that he is not aware of what is happening at the station, while some does,” he said.

He said there was a national target set to reduce contact crime and every police station should work very hard to contribute towards reaching the set percentage. However, he mentioned that it would be difficult to reduce crime drastically if the community is not involved.

“In police stations such as Vosman and Tonga, there is something good that they are doing and we have noticed that it is because there is high rate of community participation through community policing forums (CPFs) and patrol teams. That is why it is important to mobilize community members to join the struggle against crime by participating in crime fighting structures such as the CPF and by being reservists,” he said.

Mahlalela said in all Izimbizo that were conducted last year and recently, there was a huge dissatisfaction on the performance of the police. He said this included among others the response of the police to crime call outs and attitude by officers working at the community service centres (CSCs) in police stations, of which these centres were suppose to be the face of the stations and needed to be run by considerate people, showing a degree of professionalism.

“All this poor performance and attitude portray a picture that the police are losing the fight against crime, whereas there is an indication that crime is going down, however, the kind of brutality associated with the crime make it difficult for people to realize that statistics show a decline in criminality in the province,” the MEC concluded.

Issued by Communication Section, Mpumalanga Provincial Government, Department of Safety and Security.
Enquiries: Joseph Mabuza at 013 766 4055 / 082 678 1450