The SA Police Service focuses on diversity while South Africans suffer with high crime rates

Theunis van Staden from Solidarity’s public sector division said that the South African Police Service’s leadership should be measured on fighting crime, not diversity.

This followed the South African Police Service’s (SAPS) decision to make diversity management part of senior management’s performance assessment.

The acting National Commissioner of the SA Police Service issued a circular regarding transformation and diversity management.

This circular stated that transformation and diversity will form part of senior managers’ job descriptions and the Performance Enhancement Process (PEP).

There was a particular focus on women and persons with disabilities in this performance enhancement process.

This did not sit well with Van Staden, who said that the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry had exposed the extent of the SAPS’s leadership, management, and integrity crisis.

“The country is facing one of its most serious security crises since 1994. South Africa’s levels of violent crime are compared to those of a low-intensity war zone,” he said.

“For that reason, every performance measure for senior police management should be linked to merit and their ability to combat crime.”

He said the Madlanga Commission has made it clear that police management reform is necessary.

The priority should be to restore professional leadership, accountability, and public confidence, rather than additional management objectives.

“We would expect senior management to be assessed on its ability to combat violent crime, improve investigations, eradicate corruption within the SAPS,” he said.

“Senior management should also provide better support to police officers and restore public confidence in the police service.”

“Under the current circumstances, every performance measure should strengthen the SAPS’s ability to fulfil its constitutional mandate.”

Van Staden said that ordinary South Africans do not judge the SAPS by internal management indicators, but by whether they are safe.

This, he said, should also be reflected in the SA Police Service’s senior management’s performance assessment.