WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-01-10 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By Lavern de Vries
The Metro Police already facing an uncertain future are hemorrhaging staff, losing about five officers every month, according to a senior Metro Police official.
Staff numbers have halved in the six years since the force was established. In 2001, the force, which supports the South African Police Service (SAPS), employed close to 2 000 people, but now fewer than 1 000 are employed, with about 200 doing administrative duty and only 772 active members.
Of the active members, 119 have been suspended pending a disciplinary hearing for their role in the N2 protest action earlier this year.
| ‘A serious lack of confidence in the management style’ |
The official, who spoke to the Cape Argus on condition of anonymity, said: “The morale is low and this hampers service delivery.
“We have cases where constables with the same rank and doing the same jobs are paid differently.
“The service is rife with favouritism and we have a serious lack of confidence in the management style.”
JP Smith, chairman of the city’s mayoral committee on safety and security, said the future of the Metro Police was further muddied by the mooted amendment to the SAPS Act which would see them merge with the SAPS.
The amalgamation would mean that the Metro Police would fall under national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. The force is currently managed by the City of Cape Town.
| ‘It is within the city’s power to appoint more Metro cops, who we clearly need’ |
“(Selebi) would appoint the civilian oversight committee and he would address issues such as employment and equipment,” said Smith.
This would effectively reduce the city’s control of the service and would give the commissioner full control at a R500-million cost to the city, he said.
Another source close to the Metro Police also expressed concerns that officers would not be able to cope with their duties during the festive season.
“It is within the city’s power to appoint more Metro cops, who we clearly need, but instead we see the mayor marching in communities which should be patrolled by Metro so that she doesn’t have to march there,” the source said.
He said he was also worried that the Metro Police would not be able to fulfil their mandate: traffic control, bylaw enforcement and crime prevention.
An initiative by the city to outsource 77 officers to businesses exacerbated the issue, he said.
“These rent-a-cops will be hired by business sectors to work with the Central Improvement Districts to secure the businesses.
“We only have 700 officers operating; how are they supposed to do their jobs when they are being hired to look after businesses?
“This means that poorer communities, who cannot afford to pay for the services of Metro, will be losing out.”
However, earlier reports suggested that the project was being reconsidered by the city because of the “thinly stretched” resources.