MBOMBELA – Members of the Public Order Policing (POP) unit of the SAPS Hazyview branch, alleged that they were being intimidated and restricted from using state vehicles by their superiors. This they said had a negative influence on the delivery of quality services to the community.
They alleged that their problems dated back to 2011, and although known to management, these issues were not being addressed. Members of the units claimed that their operational commander refused them the right to use state vehicles on a daily basis yet their duty of maintaining public order during riots required them to use these.
“The commander knows very well that our line of duty requires that we have vehicles daily, but he denies us these assets. This also puts our lives in danger as some of us have to hike or use public transport to the station. Anything can happen to us as most protests usually take place around 03:00, hence we don’t get to protests and riots in time,” said a member of the unit who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Members of the unit also accused the commander of ill-treating them, shouting and even calling them names, adding that this added more strain to the already stressful nature of their jobs. This newspaper learnt that working under such conditions threatened the lives of the members, as well as that of the accused commander.
The members added that the Legend 45 van was not suitable for their work, but that they needed a Quantum with a trailer as they had to transfer heavy equipment when responding to riots.
“Serious attention needs to be given to these concerns before anything happens to those that are involved,” added the source.
“Earlier this year, parliament’s portfolio committee on police mentioned that POP units had to be given sufficient resources and support to enable them to do their work safely.”
“Containing community unrests, especially violent ones, is not an easy thing and these officers need every support they can get,” said portfolio’s chairperson
Mr Francois Beukman on News 24 on February 5. This was after the committee’s visit to the POP unit in Hazyview.
They reported to parliament that they were shocked to find that there were only a limited number of functional Nyalas, which are vehicles used to disperse crowds and blockades. Adding that the consequences of not having enough of these vehicles include exposing public order police officers to danger, especially when attending to violent unrests.
Brig Selvy Mohlala, spokesperson for the provincial police, confirmed they had received the unit’s grievances as police management held a meeting with their union representatives.
“Those grievances need the intervention of the provincial commissioner who is currently not available due to family matters. As soon as he is back, we will engage the union again,” said Mohlala.
