'We don’t have a salary, we have a stipend': Police and correctional services officers

Police and correctional services officers affiliated to the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) who embarked on a march on Tuesday shared how their salaries force them into a life of crime, to abscond from work and to live among the criminals from whom they are meant to protect their families and communities. 

“We fight crime and go back to shacks,” said Popcru president Zizamele Cebekhulu when he led disgruntled police officers on a march to the Treasury and the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Tuesday. They were demanding salary increases, among other things. 

A correctional services officer at Kgosi Mampuru prison in Pretoria, who did not want to be named, said she doesn’t enjoy her salary. She is paid on the 15th of the month and by the 16th, after all her deductions, she was broke.

“If you are travelling [by car to work] it is a problem with petrol. Members finish their leave days. They report sick because of money. We have a lot of smugglers in prison. Members are dismissed because they are smuggling but they need the money. They are lured by that,” she said.

Phat Raolane is a police officer who works in the Western Cape. He joined the march, saying his salary he had did not permit him to “afford life”. 

"We can’t afford anything.  I came from Cape Town to say, ‘Mr President, please hear us. We only need  houses.’ Even if they could give us what they call a police village,” he said. 

Raolane said it was clear the government doesn’t care about them.

“That is why we end up renting places owned by drug lords. Unfortunately if we skip one month, you are going to be a victim of crime. They will request a firearm from you or shoot you and claim its criminals or people from outside doing that. It is because we can’t afford proper housing.

“This is a warning shot to the president that we will strike and get what we want.”

He said as a parent of three he was struggling to make ends meet. “My children must get tertiary education. When you look at my pay slip, it looks like a high salary, but I must pay for their traveling to school, electricity, petrol, insurance, everything. It is just too expensive.

“I am from Cape Town but home is Limpopo. I must also send money home. You can imagine the kind of situation I am in. At the end of the month I have zero. I don’t have anything to give to anybody, so how do I survive?”

Cebekhulu warned that should their calls not be taken seriously, their members would occupy parliament. 

The union made a list of demands, including:

• a 10% increase;
• employment of more officials;
• an increase in the danger allowance;
• the implementation of a housing allowance; and
• the employment of hospital and security guards. 

Police minister Bheki Cele and his justice and correctional services counterpart, Ronald Lamola, went out to meet the marchers on Tuesday. 

The pair were not well received by the crowd, who hurled insults when they tried to address them after receiving and signing the memorandum. Lamola was told to “leave and shut up” as the crowd spoke over him. Cele was booed.

Both ministers acknowledged receiving the list of demands and said they would relay the message to the relevant parties.

“We work hard for Cele. We work for little money,” the crowd sang. 

The union called for Cele to convene a national indaba on tackling crime, corruption and rehabilitation of offenders.

Cebekhulu said the union would not sign the 3% increase agreement put forward. 

“Anyone who thinks Popcru will sign this agreement is dreaming. We are not going to sign. Try to force it on us and we will retaliate,” he said.

He called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action and warned him away from his “slumber”.

The protest came as the country faced days of rolling blackouts with Eskom struggling to keep the lights on. 

Cebekhulu said load-shedding was also making their work difficult. 

“Our members are dying every day on the ground. It is worse if we have to operate in the dark. We want electricity. We can’t fight crime in the dark. Prisoners cannot be rehabilitated in the dark. The issue of electricity must be addressed now. Crime is rising. We are tired. Police are dying, It has become a normal thing that police are dying.”

Cebekhulu said they were being undermined. “We don’t have a salary. We have a stipend in the public services. We come from shacks. Which country is happy about essential workers coming from squatter camps? It can’t be normal that a public servant can’t afford to buy a house or qualify for a RDP house,” he said.

He also condemned the participation of soldiers in fighting crime, saying they are not trained to be police.

Regarding the danger allowance, he said it is an insult that officers are dying and being butchered by prisoners for R400.

“Minister, we can’t die for R400,” he said.

Popcru general secretary Jeff Dladla read out the memorandum at the Union Buildings.

“One day there will be no police on the streets in this country. One day there will be no correctional officers,” he warned.  

The union has given the ministers 21 days to respond to the demands.

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