SAPS AND PROMOTIONS
By Regan Jules-Macquet
By examining information available in various publications, we can see an odd trend in the South African Police Service (SAPS) with regard to promotions:
•Approximately 390 000 SAPS members were promoted from one salary band to another in the past four years until March 2006;
•The 2006 / 2007 Annual Report indicates that 130 503 people progressed from one salary notch to another for the period 1st April 2006 to 31st March 2007;
•Approximately 79% of the entire SAPS progressed up a salary notch during 2006;
•50.8% of these progressions were among black males, while 16% were among black females;
•Black male SAPS members, as opposed to female, received a disproportionate number of promotions between 2002 to 2005. They received 48% of all promotions in that period.
These rapid promotions place individuals in situations that they lack the experience or training to cope with thus compromising service delivery and preventing meaningful mentoring and coaching.
This situation will result in members holding positions of authority, despite lacking the skills and experience acquired through actual years of police service and which are required when operating at higher levels of seniority.
As the matter stands, there are too many Inspectors per Constables, in excess of international norms. This top-heavy management structure means that rank and job have been separated: people hold positions of rank while not necessarily fulfilling any function associated with that rank.
This will have serious implications for morale and respect, both from within the SAPS and from the general public.
The above is an excerpt from the DA discussion document
Promotions gone mad
Sources:
Bruce, D., Newham, G. & Masuku, T. (2007).
In Service of the People's Democracy: An assessment of the South African Police Service
Research report written for the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in association with the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, May.
South African Police Service (SAPS)
a.South African Police Service Subsequent Employment Equity Section 20 Plan for the Period 1st January 2007 – 31st December 2010.
b.Annual Report 2006 / 2007
AUTHOR: Regan Jules-Macquet is the DA’s parliamentary researcher on criminal justice. This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author. The views expressed in the article are the author's and are not necessarily shared by the Democratic Alliance.
This article may be republished without prior consent but with acknowledgement to the author – www.insidepolitics.org.za - the views expressed in the article are not necessarily shared by the Democratic Alliance
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| Posted on 23/10/2007
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