Dear Gqeberha
A reply to a parliamentary question reveals a disturbing decrease in the granted establishment of South African Police Service members for the last two years in the Western Cape, from approximately 20 500 during 2019 to 19 400 to date. As a consequence, this strains policing performance in the province once again and jeopardises criminal prevention and crime fighting efforts.
The granted establishment is the number of police officers the SAPS deem suitable for a particular province. It is unbelievable that the police department is yet again cutting the number the officers that ought to be stationed in the province. The Western Cape’s average yearly population growth of 2% clearly calls for greater policing activity, but this is hamstrung by national government allowing for not just stagnating numbers but in fact a decrease.
The other challenge that exists is that the granted number of the provincial police establishment is often different to the actual number deployed per station or unit. The actual number of police officers is often times much less than the number of officers that should be in service according to the granted establishment. Whilst we already know that the granted figures are too low, the situation at a station level may be even worse. This is why I will enquire about the actual numbers to have a true picture of resourcing in the Western Cape.
National government consistently takes one step forward and two steps back when it comes to providing the Western Cape with its fair share of policing resources.
The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape has previously raised the alarm on the lack of policing resources in terms of vehicles and other supplies or equipment. But in 2018, in particular, it was found that SAPS had only reached the granted establishment for 1998 according to the relevant annual performance plan. This means that the national management team of SAPS is continuously in a bid to catch up on resources that were needed more than 20 years ago.
As greater performance is nonetheless expected from safety personnel, it flies in the face of the already burdened police officer. This is a fight that the DA in the Western Cape will not forsake in the interest of improving safety in communities.
Regards
Reagen Allen, MPP
DA Western Cape Spokesperson on Community Safety
