Spotlight: top cop initiative guides crucial selection of SA’s police head

ISS and Corruption Watch showed that an honest and experienced police chief is key to solving endemic crime.

A sustained crisis of top police management was identified in government’s National Development Plan (NDP) as a key challenge in South Africa, where police performance has declined since 2011/12 despite an almost 60% budget increase.

Crime intelligence, detective services and visible policing have deteriorated under a series of disastrous national commissioners. As a result, the SA Police Service (SAPS) has been unable to stop the steady growth in murder, armed robbery and other violent or organised crimes over the past six years.

Poor leadership contributed to various police crises, such as the Marikana killings and inaction against alleged massive corruption and state capture by the Gupta and Zuma families. ‘The dedication of many honest and committed police officers was being undermined,’ said Gareth Newham, the ISS head of justice and violence prevention. ‘Poor police leadership was costing lives, undermining public safety, and allowing corruption to flourish.’

The ISS, working with Corruption Watch, initiated a police leadership campaign built on recommendations in the NDP. The campaign combined good crime data, robust arguments and a deep understanding of government, the criminal justice system and the needs of the country.

Newham, who spearheaded the initiative for the ISS, has worked in policing for 24 years as a policy analyst and technical advisor, with a focus on police accountability and performance. He was an advisor to the Gauteng provincial head of community safety, and serves on expert policing panels. Newham is leading the development of a crime prevention strategy for Namibia, has consulted on policing strategy for various countries and has designed and facilitated training on police performance.

The ISS–Corruption Watch campaign has moved the importance of police leadership up the national and political agenda

The campaign showed how a lack of experience, expertise and integrity in SAPS leadership had seriously eroded its capacity to combat violent crime and corruption. It was this dangerous trend that the ISS and Corruption Watch set out to reverse, and from May 2017 the joint initiative built support from policing unions, civil society and members of Parliament.

The campaign set out to make the appointment of South Africa’s top cop more transparent, and primarily based on merit, experience and integrity rather than political and personal loyalty to the president, as seemed to be the case since 2000. ‘The police in 2017 were once again under an inappropriate temporary leader, and the country urgently needed the next permanent national police commissioner to be qualified, honest and accountable,’ Newham said.

Supported by a brochure, video and media relations, the campaign quickly gathered momentum and credibility. The ISS and Corruption Watch aimed their efforts at the Presidency, the police minister, Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, the Secretary for Police, the police unions, political parties and civil society organisations working to improve public safety and justice.

Expressions of support came from high levels of government, unions and parliamentarians. The chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police invited the ISS and Corruption Watch to present their arguments at a committee meeting dedicated to assessing the implementation of the NDP’s policing recommendations.  

With the campaign in full swing, the scheduled August 2017 appointment of a new police commissioner was stalled. During the annual release of the police crime statistics in September, police minister Fikile Mbalula acknowledged that the SAPS lacked stability in its top leadership, and that this was affecting the police’s ability to deal with crime.

And in November former president Jacob Zuma announced the permanent appointment of General Khelha Sithole – the first time since 1995 the job had gone to a career policeman. Unlike his predecessors, Sithole at the time of his appointment had an abundance of policing experience, and no allegations of corruption against him.

It’s too early to know whether Sithole will be able to rebuild professionalism in the SAPS, act against rampant crime and corruption, and restore public trust. But the ISS and Corruption Watch campaign has moved the importance of police leadership up the national and political agenda.

‘Sithole is a good start, but steps now need to be taken to clean up the entire senior management echelon of the SAPS so that only the most honest, skilled and experienced officers hold top posts,’ says a cautiously optimistic Newham.

For more information contact:

Gareth Newham, ISS: +27 82 887 1557, [email protected]

Picture: Amelia Broodryk/ISS

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