South Africa’s National Police (SAPS) national commissioner General Fannie Masemola has described the state of policing as challenging compared to 30 years back.
Masemola said the police force is under immense strain from social media, economic and migration pressures.
He was speaking before Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee investigating allegations made by Kwa-Zulu Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Masemola said the police are struggling to cope with constantly rising crime levels and limited resources in a society that expects the police to solve every problem.
“I would describe the state of policing as quite challenging, taking into account various factors that the country is facing. Since Covid-19, the country has never been the same.
Unemployment source of crime
“There is a lot of unemployment that also brings the element of crime and new crime, and of course most of the countries are looking for where they can look for gold or something to eat,” said Masemola.
He added that South Africa’s position as a “destination of choice” for migrants seeking better opportunities has further stretched the country’s policing capacity.
He noted that South Africa has signed a number of treaties that allow free protocol of movement in the Southern African Development Community. The treaties, he said, have not necessarily resulted in South Africans moving north of the continent but more migrants heading into SA.
Migrants resources stretched
He said it leads to police resources under pressure while crime continues to grow within the borders.
“New forms of crime are imported into the country, policing is quiet under pressure and society looks for everything in the police. They expect that if a child don’t go to school it’s a problem for the police; if the spouses have a confrontation, ‘where were the police’, and it’s quite challenging.
“Policing of today can never be associated or described as the policing of 30 years ago, it is quite challenging, and it requires, of course, new ideas, and currently South African Police Service is trying our best to cope with what we have but we do have a limitation of resources, resources are not in abundance. Population and challenges are growing far more faster than what we have,” said Masemola.
