How much value do we place on education, health and safety in South Africa?
A country can and should be judged on how well it cares for its most vulnerable residents. Children, the sick, and the safety of communities should be among government's priorities.
Yet too often in South Africa we see how the vital roles played by teachers, healthcare workers and police officers are seemingly downgraded. They are paid poorly, overworked and under appreciated.
So is it any wonder that sometimes, in return, the people in these posts do not perform optimally? And do we even have a right to expect them to, given the often untenable situation they work in?
Every day, teachers have to deal with ill-disciplined and sometimes violent pupils, a lack of resources, overcrowded classrooms and poor facilities. Healthcare workers face similar challenges. According to the World Health Organization, South Africa has one of the lowest doctor-to-patient ratios in the world. Chronic understaffing leads to excessive workloads, stress, burnout and a drop in work satisfaction, and this obviously impacts the level of care provided.
But police officers arguably face the biggest challenges. Each day they are required to literally put their lives on the line in one of the most violent countries in the world. About 60 people are murdered on average each day, according to police statistics.
Adding to their stress levels, police are significantly under resourced, often insufficiently trained and short of basic equipment such as vehicles, bulletproof vests and forensic equipment, making it very difficult for them to do their jobs.
So it's no wonder police are losing the war on crime.
The quality of policing has been in the spotlight recently following increased exposure of the growing phenomenon of organised crime such as the construction mafia and other extortion networks.
This week, police minister Senzo Mchunu revealed that almost 40% of detective posts are vacant. In response to a parliamentary question from Rise Mzansi's Makashule Gana, Mchunu said the total number of detectives employed in the police stood at 22,413 and the country was experiencing a shortage of 8,594.
He said 527 detectives had voluntarily left the police between October 1 last year and July 19 2024. That's almost 60 per month.
Until there is a momentous shift in this mindset, South Africa will be doomed to lacklustre, apathetic service from a civil service that is just there for the ride and the equally mediocre pay cheque
These officers are going into the ever-increasing private sector, or being snatched up by other countries.
Last year the Sunday Times reported how the Queensland police service (QPS) in Australia had been inundated with applications since it made the call on Facebook to South African police constables under the age of 55, who were looking for a change. The QPS said its constables “enjoy a range of benefits and conditions with attractive financial growth for years served”. The starting salary of a first-year constable is R988,107 a year, compared with an average of R194,958 in South Africa.
Other benefits included six weeks “recreation leave” a year, 13 weeks long service leave after 10 years, a 38-hour work week, overtime, 114 hours sick leave a year, leave for study or sporting commitments, free uniforms, training and financial incentives for officers working in remote areas.
In May, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) warned that highly skilled and specialised members of the Special Task Force and National Intervention Unit divisions were exiting the South African Police Service at an alarming rate, leaving the country’s borders vulnerable and posing a significant risk to safety and security.
And last month, the union called for an urgent review of the SAPS’s promotion policies, arguing that current policy hinders the improvement of conditions of service and career progression of essential support staff, while detracting from the professionalisation of the police service and its effectiveness in fighting crime.
If South Africa really wants a police force that is free from corruption, able to stop gangs in their tracks and investigate cases so thoroughly that a criminal conviction is almost guaranteed, then we need to start investing in our recruitment, training and employment packages.
We need to treat our police officers as highly skilled professionals, providing a critically important service. For this they need the necessary top-notch training, resources and remuneration that come with such a job. Criminals should know that if they break the law, they will be caught.
And in return, these officers must be held to the highest standards. Their actions must at all times be above reproach, and when they are not, they must be expelled.
But you get what you pay for. Some spheres of government give the impression that they are doing doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers a favour by offering them jobs. Until there is a momentous shift in this mindset, South Africa will be doomed to lacklustre, apathetic service from a civil service that is just there for the ride and the equally mediocre pay cheque.
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