SAFETY & SECURITY - PRESS FOR CHANGE

So far, we have zeroed in on short term topics about what we as individuals can do ourselves to enhance our personal security, but what else in the broader context requires fresh thinking and corrective governance?

Lets take a look at what Bishop Tutu very recently says about affirmative action and then at the staffing of our Police Force and forensic laboratories. The sincere Bishop who is not scared to speak the truth, states that affirmative action is responsible for candidates occupying jobs for which they are not properly qualified. We have also seen the rapid rise through the ranks, of some officials who are either incompetent or corrupt (or both) and the support from their buddies in high places to keep them on the payroll even after being suspended.

It is noticeable that before the ANC got into power, there were many more constables and sergeants in the Police Force than ‘Adjutants’, now known as Inspectors. Today, there are many more ‘Inspectors’ than sergeants and constables. But if given an independent literacy test and another on the preparation of crime dockets, it would be found that a large proportion of Inspectors are functionally illiterate. Likewise applicants for Forensic Science laboratories have been accepted in preference to those holding higher academic qualifications, purely on the basis of skin colour.

Now in an overdue departure from the Apartheid era, BEE orientated institutions and policies are supposed to provide proportional opportunity for all on the basis of merit. As taxpayers and constant victims of crime, South African citizens should insist that our Inspectors and forensic examiners are required to pass proper selection processes as well as regular efficiency audits to impact on crime statistics and the turn around time at forensic laboratories.

But this is not so. The top echelons of the Police Directorate and other security institutions are cluttered with incompetent and often politically appointed fat cats in top jobs who are immune to efficiency audits and criminal investigation.

Ask the scorpions on that score.

Meanwhile we are subjected to the effects of their incompetence, cover-ups and political interference in the justice system.

So what can be done to remedy the situation?

We should recognize that many black South Africans are just as fed up about crime as are the whites. There lies a hugely underestimated populous of very unhappy and angry people who would support political pressure for corrective governance.

Come on, Helen Zille and Patricia de Lille, while the rank and file of the ANC are discrediting themselves and falling apart, now more than ever is the time to intensify pressure for change. We know you can do it.

Be safe – unite in strength.
Regards
Private Eye