Three years after being launched with much fanfare – even bringing rivals former police commissioner Khehla Sitole and minister Bheki Cele under the same roof – the Royal Reserve Police Service still has not taken off.
The traditional community-based crime-fighting initiative, rolled out in November 2020 at the Enyokeni Royal Palace in Nongoma, was endorsed by the late AmaZulu king Goodwill Zwelithini kaBhekuZulu.
However, a senior rank police officer familiar with the programme told Sunday World that the plan was ill-conceived because the South African Police Service (SAPS) did not have any legislated legal framework.
“We warned that this would not work until we amended the law. The SAPS Act 68 of 1995 only provides for police reservists system, which is incorporated under the police service. It does not make any provision for the Royal Reserve Police
Service,” he said.
As part of SAPS’s rural safety strategy, the intervention was meant to stop crimes such as stock theft, gender-based violence, faction fighting and other crimes that plaguerural communities.
At the time of its launch, Cele lauded the programme, encouraging the reserve police to work within the law.
“You must work within the law. You have tools when you work, and you must use them to protect those whose lives are in danger.”
About 100 young people who passed through the intensive training were unleashed as new recruits to be dispatched to various rural parts of KwaZulu-Natal. They expected a monthly stipend.
Following the Sunday World probe, opposition parties in KZN this week came out guns blazing, calling for heads to roll.
Spokesperson for the IFP on community affairs Blessed Gwala said: “As members of the portfolio committee for community safety and liaison in the KZN legislature, we have been kept in the dark since this programme was launched in 2020.
“We have not heard in our meetings whether the programme is operational or not.”
The DA’s Sharon Hoosen said the party would demand accountability. “The DA will be posing questions to the department about this failed project and if funds have been spent on a non-existent programme. The funds must be paid back,” she said.
Khanyisani Magudelela, who was among the trained reservists, is seeking answers from the SAPS.
“Nobody seems to have the answers because we were given the impression that we would commence our duties immediately. Nothing has happened since then,” Magudelela said.
National police spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said the majority of the Royal Reserve Police Service were absorbed into the system as fully-fledged constables to bolster crime-fighting initiatives across KZN.
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