ANC and SACP vie for Popcru’s support

The Madlanga commission was established because the ANC government could not tolerate wrongdoing within the police service and the criminal justice system.

This is a view expressed by the ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula in a message read by ANC NEC member and Deputy Minister of Police Cassel Mathale at the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) central executive committee gathering at Boksburg, Ekurhuleni, on Wednesday.

He said the state had established the commission because it knows that a police service that shelters criminality within its own ranks cannot credibly protect citizens.

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The Madlanga commission was formed after a revelation by KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Several senior police and traffic officials, including national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola, have testified before the commission.

Mbalula said every allegation before the commission must be tested, and every officer named is entitled to be innocent until the process proves otherwise. But where wrongdoing is proven, there must be consequences, regardless of rank or political connection.

However, he said the overwhelming majority of the women and men in uniform, and the overwhelming majority of Popcru members, are honest, hardworking and often under-protected.

Mbalula defends police members

“They should not carry the shame that belongs to a corrupt few. Their conditions of service, decent salaries, safe workplaces, fair promotion policies, housing, medical support and psychological care are not narrow labour issues. They are a foundation of a capable state that can fight crime, rehabilitate offenders and keep our people safe,” Mbalula said.

He said the ANC is committed to fielding councillors who can fix the water, lights, potholes and run corruption-free municipal offices. “That is the standard the party’s Freedom Charter set for local government seven decades ago, and it is the standard to which we are recommitting ourselves now.”

He said the ANC knew the 4 November local government elections would not be easy for the ANC.

Mbalula, through Mathale, appeared to compete with the SACP for Popcru’s support for the upcoming elections. Mbalula attempted to convince union members to campaign and vote for the ANC, but SACP general secretary Solly Mapaila countered by exposing ANC service delivery failures, which he said were due to the neoliberal policies it adopted.

Mbalula asked Popcru to hold the ANC accountable even more than before.

“What we are asking plainly is this: that between now and 4 November Popcru must use its voice, its structures and the moral authority it has earned since 1989 to campaign, mobilise and vote for the ANC in its local government elections. It’s a revolutionary call; it’s your responsibility to defend the gains of our freedom.

“We are asking your shop stewards in police stations, correctional facilities and traffic departments in every province to speak to their colleagues honestly about what is at stake. We are asking you, members, in your own communities to be voices of the ANC, the way they have been voices for justice while on duty. We are not asking these things because we believe Popcru’s support is owed to us; you don’t owe us. No organisation owes the support of the workers; it must be earned,” Mbalula said.

SACP criticises ANC

In his address, Mapaila said the shortages at police stations and state departments were due to budget cuts that were part of the austerity measures implemented by the ANC government. He said the austerity measures have been in existence for a long time.

“It’s the capitalist system that makes you work under the current conditions. It’s your choice. Austerity and budget cuts were imposed by capitalism,” Mapaila said.

The SACP chief said the party would respect Popcru’s choice of who it would vote for in November. But the SACP must be judged by what it stood for, adding that workers must remain united on the working-class interest.

While both Mathale and Mapaila were applauded, it was clear the union was slanted towards the SACP.