The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) is getting increasingly concerned about the continued ignorance and disregard for procedural agreements displayed by the acting National Commissioner.

As part of the so-called Back to Basics campaign, which is being loud hailed without the necessary resources and has not been discussed anywhere through the involvement  stakeholders, Phahlane continues to undermine the role and decisions of collective agreements and that of stakeholders.

The South African Police Service (SAPS) is in direct contravention of the collective agreement signed at the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) which indicates that the SAPS must have a meaningful consultation with the parties to the collective agreement before any implementation of any matter such as restructuring and any other changes to the organization are effected.

As part of his self-serving agenda, Phahlane has unilaterally started implementing the restructuring process which is not informed by any strategy.

In the past 5 years, the SAPS has been restructured 4 times with top-heavy structures, with lots of managers at the Head Office doing absolutely nothing, and this has not yielded any positive results in dealing with crime, but instead created a long bureaucratic process.

Provinces are currently in tatters because of the cluster project, making it difficult for station commanders to take decisions because cluster commanders overrule them, yet there is no clear separation of powers between the two.

There is brewing dissatisfaction among operational members as they do not know who to listen to, and as we speak, clusters in provinces are being reduced without any consultation, with many police not knowing where they are going to work and where these clusters are to be situated. Again, there is no synergy as to where the so-called restructuring must start and end.

For us, this move is a clear move to appease his cronies instead of focusing on real police challenges. It is about a power struggle that also seeks to undermine the role unions play. The SAPS management does not know whether it is coming or going. Compounded to this challenge is the fact that Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko is found wanting. He has failed to finalise the white paper on the new Criminal Justice cluster as a value chain, and the white paper on the Police act which must be amended so as to separate functions of the Ministry and those of the Director General which are operational in nature.

The acting National Commissioner is desperately aspiring to be confirmed as a permanent National Commissioner, which characterises the chaotic and confrontational situation members would be subjected to.

Issued by POPCRU on 19/01/2016,