Police reservist numbers gutted: DA

THE DA has blamed the police minister for the decline in the number of police reservists.

Reservists fall under two categories: functional policing, and specialised operational support.

According to the SAPS website, functional policing performs general policing functions under the supervision of a permanent member or reservist with at least three years of experience.

The specialised operational support is someone with particular skills or expertise that can be operationally used by the SAPS.

Andrew Whitfield, an MP and the DA’s spokesperson on police, said the SAPS reservist programme had decreased under the leadership of Minister Bheki Cele, with the SAPS losing 90% of its reservists from 2011.

“These shocking figures, which the DA received from a reply to a parliamentary question, prove that Minister Cele has been central to the gutting of the reservist programme, which has placed the safety of law-abiding South Africans at risk.”

Whitfield said in 2011/12 there were 52054 SAPS reservists across the country. “Ten years later, SAPS is left with just 4 393 reservists. This is a devastating blow to the fight against crime as reservists play a critical role in supporting SAPS with its declining numbers of personnel.”

He said it was clear from the figures that Cele targeted the reservist programme as his final act as national police commissioner 10 years ago.

“Numbers declined sharply from 2011/12 (52054), when Minister Cele was the national police commissioner, to 2012/13 (19 129), which was the financial year he was fired. That is a 63% decline in reservist numbers in just one financial year.”

He said thereafter reservist numbers continued to decline until another sharp decline after Cele was appointed police minister. From 2018/19 and to 2021/22, numbers fell from 8 707 to 4 393, a 50% decline in reservist numbers.

“Fewer boots on the ground is good news for criminals and bad news for law-abiding citizens, who want to live in safe communities free from fear.”

Whitfield said the country needed everyone to fight crime.

“SAPS should be pursuing a deliberate and urgent recruitment drive to bolster their ranks with hard-working reservists who are committed to supporting and strengthening the SAPS.”

A reservist from Phoenix said: “About 10 years ago, we had about 50 reservists and now there are about 10. When you are a reservist, it’s voluntary. Reservists are generally stationed in the charge office. You are not allowed to be in the field without a firearm licence. The reservists have to shadow other officers and stand in for police officers who are ill.”

He said in most cases, reservists had to learn their duties by shadowing police officers.

“There is no mentorship programme. They don’t get paid unless they are working during the festive season or providing assistance for situations like the July 2021 unrest. It is a long process and a lot of groundwork and people are no longer interested in doing this.”

Another reservist from Durban said: “When you become a reservist, a community policing member or a police officer, you are putting your life on the line. Crime is escalating and criminals are brazen. The recruitment process from being a reservist to being employed at SAPS is a long wait and many people don’t have the time to wait so long to be employed.”

Mary de Haas, a violence monitor in KwaZulu-Natal, said: “Reservists receive a fairly minimal amount of training to act as a back-up to the police. The decline could be due to not enough funding for training.”

She said reservists were a help to policing.

Lirandzu Themba, the spokesperson for the police ministry; and the national and local SAPS did not comment at the time of publication.