South African Police-the shame of a nation.

A well known fact is that many members of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are corrupt. Not all, but to many for comfort.
Tales about bribes are an everyday thing. Many street vendors will tell you that the SAPS members extort money from them, and/or confiscate their goods, keeping it for themselves. Remember, most street vendors sell pirate goods, from DVDs to rugby jerseys. So, our cops basically steal the stolen goods. There are also many cases of police weapons been 'hired' out to criminals. In the last five years, 13 500 firearms have gone 'missing' from the SAPS. Poof- just gone.  (It does seem tiny in comparison to the Defense Force, who have managed to make 82 000 firearms disappear)

Yet, with this in mind, I was still shocked at the news the other day, stating that after an audit on the SAPS , 27 239  South African police persons, have failed their firearm competency test. In short, this means there are 27 239 cops running around, bearing arms, which includes combat rifles, who are not competent to do so. What a comforting thought.

The figure is astounding when compared to the number of cops who went through the training-157 704! This equates to 17% of those tested. Surprisingly, there are still 55 429 SAPS members who still have to be trained under the Firearms Control Act, which has been effective since 2004. Another question mark- how come so many? The act has been in force since 2004 and now, in 2012, there is still such a large number who have not been through the competency course??

This audit comes in the wake of an incident where a trainee cop shot a youngster dead, during a raid. Sipho Mbatha was declared unfit to carry a weapon due to his mental state and the fact he tried to commit suicide a few times but was still awarded a rifle and a chance to use it. Further to this, another policeman was shot when trying to book a firearm out and then there is the case where a handcuffed prisoner was shot in the back while trying to 'escape'. There are many more firearm horror stories and the SAPS.

It becomes even more disturbing when General Bheki Cele (now thankfully suspended for an irregular lease agreement) insisted that 229 trainee policemen be given another shot at the exam- this is after already failing the same exam THREE times before. Monty Python could not think of anything so absurd.

To add to this already existing shambles, the SWAT course is reduced from 4 weeks to 2 weeks and called, 'street survival course'. Nine modules have been cut-these include Ambush and counter ambush techniques, roadblock etiquette and counter sniper techniques to name some. Wow- this is supposed to be a specialized unit, sent in to deal with the most extreme and sensitive situations- and they are not being trained to deal with everything.

On the dark side, many criminals in South Africa are well trained. Virtually every robbery involves a stolen firearm. Many criminals prefer assault rifles, like the R4, R5 or the AK47, and are not afraid to use to take anybody's lives. This is why, our police for needs to be well trained, especially on weapon use and tactics.
The public have very little faith in the police as well. This is why mob justice is so rife. There is no trust, and this needs to be remedied. Those in uniform think they have special powers and can assault and intimidate innocent people as they wish. This to must be addressed.

The bottom line for me, the police are there to protect the public and need the public to work with them. Mutual trust has to be built and maintained. Our police for needs better training, there is no doubt about this. Those who cannot cut it, should be out, not given chances until they make it. We need competent police who are not corrupt. We need a police force that does not work with criminals, but actually catches them. In short, we need a major revamp of the SAPS!