ISS Reports on Staffing Challenges Facing SAPS, Limited Resources and Mass Retrenchment

• The Institute for Security Studies have reported that the South African Police Service has many staffing issues that are causing detrimental effects
• The institute estimates that at least 2000 detectives and 11 000 SAPS officers have either retired or resigned during the Covid-19 pandemic
• The pandemic has also caused SAPS to halt recruitment and training of new officers, which means that nobody is being hired to fill the now-vacant positions

JOHANNESBURG - The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) has reported that the South African Police Service (SAPS) has many staffing issues that are causing detrimental effects.

ISS estimates that at least 2000 detectives and 11 000 SAPS officers have either retired or resigned during the Covid-19 pandemic, and the number is expected to increase.

The pandemic has also caused SAPS to halt recruitment and training of new officers, which means that nobody is being hired to fill the now-vacant positions within the police, EWN reports.

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Budget cuts threaten SAPS

SAPS are planning to reduce their budget over the course of the next three years, according to The Citizen. The total amount that these cuts will save is R26 billion. However, experts say that SAPS has underspent its budget in previous years and do not require budget cuts.

Ziyanda Stuurman, an analyst for ISS, said that SAPS lacks the resources it needs to retain staff and meet their needs.

"It's going to be a real challenge for them to essentially make up for the last two years that they haven't been able to recruit as they normally would," Stuurman said.

Reactions to SAPS staffing crisis

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"The youth is here."

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"Employ us please, we are sitting here counting our hairs when we could be a solution to your problems."

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Ex-Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli's criminal trial won't be funded by SAPS

In previous news about SAPS, Briefly News reported that the Investigating Directorate (ID) has reiterated that SAPS will not fund the criminal trial of disgraced former top cop Richard Mdluli and his co-accused.

The ex-Crime Intelligence boss and his two former high-ranking police colleagues, Heine Barnard and Solomon Lazarus, appeared in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday.

Barnard and Lazarus previously served as the supply chain manager and the chief financial officer (CFO), respectively. The trio reportedly looted Crime Intelligence's (CI) secret slush fund.

Source: Briefly News