PRETORIA. The ANC says the disbanding of Scorpions will help prop up a police force buckling under a spiraling caseload. According to the Ministry of Safety and Security there are 138,000 police officers in the country, of whom 137,000 are dedicated to clearing roads and pavements ahead of ANC motorcades, leaving only 1,000 offers to fight crime.
Speaking at a ministerial lekgotla called 'Criminals: Are They Really All Bad Or Are They Just Potential ANC Youth League Cadres?', Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Harpic Ntsebeza said it was no longer viable to give a unit like the Scorpions special treatment.
"It is completely unacceptable that these alleged crime-fighters sit in offices in comfy chairs, reading evidence and interviewing suspects, while the brave men and pretty girls of the SA Police Service face the dangers of limousine escort patrols," said Ntsebeza.
He explained that these dangers included "getting out of breath, tripping over an orange safety cone and being crushed under the weight of a colleague, and being looked at in a hostile manner by members of the public who don't understand what a privilege it is to be stopped for ten minutes at a traffic intersection to allow a Party limousine to come through".
He added that the remaining 1,000 officers not currently on limousine duty were "not making immediate inroads into the criminal element", but commended them for their dedication.
"The surviving officers, and those not actively hijacking cars or blowing up ATMs, are doing fantastic work for their communities."
Earlier this year ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe was widely quoted in the media as saying it was "ridiculous" that the Scorpions had 600 investigators to follow up 325 cases per year.
However he and other ANC officials have refused to comment on the Scorpions' conviction rate, which is approximately 8,000 percent higher than Police success rates.
But Ntsebeza broached the issue at the briefing.
"The public needs to understand something. Good policing is not about convictions. It's about dockets. Visible dockets.
"The more dockets there are, stacked in piles around police stations and spilling out filing cabinets and onto the floor, the safer the public feels."
Source: www.hayibo.com
Speaking at a ministerial lekgotla called 'Criminals: Are They Really All Bad Or Are They Just Potential ANC Youth League Cadres?', Deputy Minister of Safety and Security Harpic Ntsebeza said it was no longer viable to give a unit like the Scorpions special treatment.
"It is completely unacceptable that these alleged crime-fighters sit in offices in comfy chairs, reading evidence and interviewing suspects, while the brave men and pretty girls of the SA Police Service face the dangers of limousine escort patrols," said Ntsebeza.
He explained that these dangers included "getting out of breath, tripping over an orange safety cone and being crushed under the weight of a colleague, and being looked at in a hostile manner by members of the public who don't understand what a privilege it is to be stopped for ten minutes at a traffic intersection to allow a Party limousine to come through".
He added that the remaining 1,000 officers not currently on limousine duty were "not making immediate inroads into the criminal element", but commended them for their dedication.
"The surviving officers, and those not actively hijacking cars or blowing up ATMs, are doing fantastic work for their communities."
Earlier this year ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe was widely quoted in the media as saying it was "ridiculous" that the Scorpions had 600 investigators to follow up 325 cases per year.
However he and other ANC officials have refused to comment on the Scorpions' conviction rate, which is approximately 8,000 percent higher than Police success rates.
But Ntsebeza broached the issue at the briefing.
"The public needs to understand something. Good policing is not about convictions. It's about dockets. Visible dockets.
"The more dockets there are, stacked in piles around police stations and spilling out filing cabinets and onto the floor, the safer the public feels."
Source: www.hayibo.com
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