The Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police has expressed his concern after hearing that the national police intend to close down the inspectorate analysis centre and service complaints.
The division manages inspections professionally, focusing on non-compliance and poor performance towards achieving its constitutional objectives.
Ian Cameron said there is no logical explanation and no rationale for such a decision in a country suffering the sheer weight of underperformance at station level.
“The closure of this critical component is both pointless and against the spirit of accountability and Batho Pele that assures the people of quality government services.
“Also, a democratic country like South Africa is dependent on strong checks and balances within and outside any institution, and closing this component will rob the country of critical checks and balances required to ensure quality service delivery.
“This decision will weaken accountability and further compromise the already poor accountability framework within the SAPS. To an institution that has a serious trust deficit, its closure will further erode the low faith that the people have in the police.”
He added the committee’s view is strengthened by the number of service complaints it has received since its inception.
“The committee developed a mechanism to address the substantial number of service delivery complaints it received.
“This component assisted the committee to resolve a number of those complaints. Its closure will inevitably diminish the possibilities within SAPS to reduce the inflow of complaints against the police.”
Cameron said he will write a letter to the minister and the national commissioner to get the rationale behind the decision and to chart a desirable way forward.
The national police spokesperson, Brigadier Athlenda Mathe, said: “The National commissioner in terms of the act is empowered to arrange and rearrange the organisation. “He is reviewing the structure to support the organisation’s policing strategy.
“The organisation is currently busy with consultations with internal stakeholders as well. We can, therefore, not comment until consultations are concluded and the structure is approved.”
mandilakhe.tshwete@inl.co.za