The South African Police has an Afrikaans problem

The South African Police Service (SAPS) admitted that it lacks the resources to meet the language needs of some Afrikaans communities.

This feedback followed National Assembly member Paulnita Marais asking the Acting Minister of Police, Firoz Cachalia, about the language barrier in a few areas.

Marais said that the predominant language spoken by communities in Heidedal, Bloemside and Bloemspruit is Afrikaans.

However, many of the police officers deployed to the police stations that serve the specified communities are not proficient in Afrikaans or English.

This created a communication barrier, preventing community members from effectively reporting cases or explaining their situations.

She asked Cachalia what measures the SA Police Service have taken to ensure that deployments are aligned with the linguistic needs of communities.

The Acting Police Minister responded, saying a member of the SA Police Service must be proficient in at least English and one other official language.

However, he explained that their staffing levels are not at a level where they can match the language needs with police members.

“Current staffing levels within the SAPS are inadequate to enable deployment strategies that align with the demographic and linguistic composition of South Africa,” he said.

Cachalia said the deployment of police officers depends on the department’s operational needs.

He pointed to ‘Policy 1 of 2016: The use of official languages in the South African Police Service’ to shed light on the matter.

The Policy provides that plain English is the main working language of the SAPS and should be used in all official documents.

In promoting the use of indigenous languages, the SAPS takes into consideration a rotation principle which is based on the most used languages in a particular province.

“All employees and prospective employees seeking appointment in terms of the SAPS Act, 1995 are required to be fluent in English and one other official language,” he said.