On Monday, 12 June, close to 100 members of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) from the Vhembe District gathered at the Makhado Show Grounds to vent their grievances to the president of the union, Mr Zizamele Cebekhulu Makhaza.
Makhaza is going around the country addressing POPCRU members on, among others, pressing political and societal topics relevant to police and prison officials, and working conditions of members.
The members raised several matters that included salary increments, lack of resources such as police vehicles and manpower, bursaries offered by the union, long shifts, and promotions. They also insisted that the Makhado POPCRU branch be dissolved as they claimed that it was being poorly managed.
Addressing the delegates, Makhaza said the union was surprised to hear police officers complain about a lack of manpower to fight crime. "Once a police member is promoted to a higher rank, he or she starts moving away from fighting crime on the ground. Go to the police headquarters in Pretoria in the morning or afternoon, when police members arrive or leave work for home. You would think police members will all be out to fight crime, but no. They will be sitting in offices while claiming to run short of manpower. These officials should go out in the field to fight crime. This is a matter that the union is busy addressing," said Makhaza.
Regarding conditions of service, members wanted to know why the police or prison departments did not increase their salaries and then, at the end of the financial year, they returned the money to the treasury. Makhaza agreed. "We need qualified personnel to handle the police and prisons' purses. Most of the officials in these departments' finance sector are not qualified for the job," he said.
Prison officials raised the issue of 10-day working shifts, which Makhaza also agreed was problematic. He assured members that the matter was going to be resolved soon.
Some members said they would like to develop themselves but did not qualify for the National Student Financial Aid Scheme as they were working. Makhaza informed them that POPCRU has partnered with Old Mutual to extend bursaries to members, as well as the children of members who had died in the line of duty.
Regarding the Makhado POPCRU branch officials, Makhaza apologised to the members, saying that the officials who had been elected had never been empowered for their task.