Late last year, members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) threatened to march in protest over certain members being overlooked for promotions to key positions within the department.
According to the DA, many officers who have served the metro for a number of decades continue to be overlooked for key positions.
Clr Jaco Terblanche, DA member of the Community Safety Oversight Committee in Ekurhuleni, said: “While the Democratic Alliance recognises the critical need for the right candidates to be appointed to strategic positions within the EMPD, we do understand the frustration felt by many of the officers after serving within the department for so long.
“Officers with some 20 to 40 years of faithful service as constables are not receiving any promotions, while it is alleged younger officers, coming straight from college in some cases, are walking straight into a position of rank due to certain connections they may have within the EMPD,” Terblanche said in a statement.
“While this has been going on since 2014, individuals occupying positions within certain investigation units in other metros are not getting the same salaries and benefits as those positions within the EMPD, which indicates a serious breach of equal work for equal pay.
“It is important that as a metro, we develop skills internally so as to promote candidates within our own ranks, which will contribute to not only efficiency but also morale within the EMPD, which has been at an all-time low since the metro came into effect in 2004.
“The EMPD plays a critical part in the functioning of the metro as a whole. The correct training and career development for policing officials therefore needs to be treated with the utmost importance in the interest of a thriving community,” Terblanche added.
Express approached the metro police for comment but the department failed to reply.
