South Africa: Is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Departmen
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25 February 2009: South Africa: Is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black in the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department?
It is with some reservation that we should commend the Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department’s (JMPD) chief, Chris Ngcobo (centre of picture), for stepping aside earlier this month pending investigations over alleged “corruption” and mismanagement leveled against him. His move represents the first of its kind by a senior public figure in South Africa who, when faced with such charges, has voluntarily stepped aside for the immediate good of the organization and broader society.
The allegations were brought by the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU), representing thousands of disgruntled JMPD officers who marched in the shadow of Johannesburg’s skyline while union representatives beat out their bargains indoors. Somehow the melody of their song and the thump of their dance drummed out the screaming irony of the proceedings – that the accusing masses remain the perpetually accused in the eyes of so many Johannesburg residents.
Tales of JMPD-related corruption are arguably the most common to pepper dinner table discourse about police abuse of power in Gauteng. Statistically sound research has shown that traffic policing is the sphere of governance in which bribes are most often requested and paid in South Africa, followed closely by general policing. As the largest metro police department operating in the biggest city in the country, this does not reflect well on the JMPD.
SAMWU doesn’t deny its members are party to corruption. What it does say is that “it is not the officers who are corrupt but the public who corrupt the officers”. If it wasn’t such a tired argument it would be quite shocking. The union asks that we forgive the custodians of the law, the historical symbol of societal integrity, our brave knights in orange and beige – suggesting they should not be judged for abusing their power if the public offered them a cool drink. “As long as it’s passive corruption,” the union seems to say, “it’s not our fault.” What makes this stance even more distasteful is that frontline JMPD officers are better paid than any of their piers in other law enforcement organizations in the country. Based on SAMWU’s logic then, we should expect even less from other law enforcement officers.
Further irony exists in that fact that this attitude is shared by one of the main targets of the SAMWU strike, Deputy-Director A. Nkosi, head of the JMPD’s Anti-Corruption Unit. Nkosi is on record as saying, JMPD officers “are not holier than thou, what are we supposed to do when the public is dangling a carrot in our face?” This from the man appointed to route out corruption in the department. Nkosi became a victim of SAMWU’s strike when he was suspended pending allegations against him - allegations that on the surface at least, appear much stronger than those leveled against Ngcobo. While the union has repeatedly used the term “corruption” with reference to Ngcobo, it hasn’t actually accused him of anything other than inaction. It alleges that Ngcobo failed to act when it alerted him to suspect tender processes in the JMPD and broader council. While this allegation certainly warrants a probe, it hardly seems enough for the man to be asked to leave his post, that is, unless the insinuation is that Ngcobo himself benefited monetarily or otherwise from his alleged inaction.
To recap then, what we have is a union representing striking police officers. The union and officers appear in the headlines to accuse the JMPD chief of “corruption” while in the small print mumbling about alleged mismanagement and inaction. Certainly there were other, more legitimate complaints within SAMWU’s demands, but why then has the stepping aside of Ngcobo been celebrated like the falling of the dragon’s head?
Hypothetically speaking, if Ngcobo were to have benefited from the alleged inaction and mismanagement as is insinuated, who’s to say he didn’t do it because the public made him corrupt? Could SAMWU complain in the unlikely event that investigations reveal the corruption of Ngcobo by a member of the public?
To be sure, this is not the first time that officers have called for the resignation of the country’s longest serving metro chief, and perhaps it is time for a change, if only for organizational stability. But how seriously can we really take their demands when just below the surface it so glaringly appears a case of the pot calling the kettle black?
Andrew Faull, Researcher, Crime, Justice and Politics Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)
