G.P.-S.

002-0222 SAPS 21

SUID AFRIKAANSE POLISIEDIENS SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE SERVICE

Verwysing THE CLUSTER HEAD RESERVIST

Reference Response to 3/1/5/1/191 VEREENIGING CLUSTER
VEREENIGING
Navrae R/Snr Supt. A.J. Kruger
Enquiries R/Constable J. Stapelberg
Telefoon
Telephone 083 395 0582
Faksnommer
Fax Number 086 218 0058
Epos
Email SAPS.mtr@gmail.com
08 October 2009

A. THE DIRECTOR OF VISIBLE POLICING: DIRECTOR D. MCLACHLAN

B. THE PROVINCIAL COMMISSIONER GAUTENG: COMM P. NAIDOO

C. THE DIVISIONAL COMMISSIONER

VISIBLE POLICING PRETORIA: DIV COMM A.H. LAMOER

RE: REVIEW OF THE RESERVIST SYSTEM

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We, the reservists of the SAPS wish to provide the following feedback on the draft changes to the
National Instructions, with specific reference to the letter dated 28 August 2009 (Reference Number
3/1/5/1/191), the content of which have slowly been filtering through to us from around mid
September 2009 to date. Our intention in writing this letter is not just to provide feedback on the
letter and leave it at that, but to assure all role players of our commitment to the improvement of the
SAPS and particularly the reservists, in order to ensure that our communities are better served and
that we can combat crime more effectively.

One concern we have regarding the manner in which the entire issue had been dealt with is that
despite the claims made in your letter that our commanders have been made aware of the review
process, the majority of reservists on ground level, have remained uninformed and unaware of this
process or the specific changes that are likely to affect them should the draft be passed in its current
form.

Having had relatively little time to discuss the draft changes in full, we have nevertheless attempted
to consult as inclusively as possible with each other as well as our heads and co-ordinators about
the matter and we wish to respond to the aforementioned letter, in particular each of the 11 primary
issues, as outlined in paragraphs 6.1 to 6.11. Our responses herein will also be forwarded to
reservists in other areas and provinces with a view to this becoming a comprehensive response to
the letter in question. We have noted that there are also a number of other lesser issues that require
discussion in the draft itself, but for the purpose of this response we will mainly focus on the
aforementioned letter itself.

Introduction & General Comments

We wish to start by making a few general comments before addressing each point specifically.
Firstly, although we feel that we have not been properly consulted or involved in the discussions
around the review system, we find that of the 11 primary issues, the majority of proposals are of a
positive nature. There are a few issues which we believe raise questions of practicality or which may
require further discussion and then there are two issues, which we feel very strongly about and
which we oppose in the strongest possible terms. These issues are contained in 6.7 and 6.9 of the
letter and deal with measures to differentiate between reservists and permanent members, as well
as taking away the initiative of reservists to work when they are able. We oppose these measures
because they are divisive, discriminatory and demoralising and they will inevitably lead to the
resignation of many reservists. These will be dealt with in more detail under the aforementioned
points, save to say that as a theme in this feedback, we are supportive of any measures that could
bring about the following, much needed changes within in the SAPS.

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Suggested Objectives with which all Changes should Line Up:
• Measures that bring about and enhance unity within the SAPS and good working
relationships without discriminatory differentiation on operational level, between
permanent members and reservists; Because a house divided against itself cannot
stand;

• Measures that lift the benchmark in terms of recruitment standards; Because if a

police officer is not joining or working for the SAPS for the right reasons, he or she
has no business being part of the SAPS;

• Measures that lift the benchmark in terms of training standards; Because higher
training standards will ensure that only those fit for duty in every sense of the word
are allowed to work and that they will therefore improve the chances of success;

• Measures that will improve discipline, order and mutual respect within the SAPS as
well as the manner in which it relates to the public; Because, as General
George S. Patton (Jnr) said “If you can’t get them to salute when they should salute
and wear clothes you tell them to wear, how are you going to get them to die for their
country?”

• Measures that will improve the distribution and availability of vital equipment and
resources to members of the SAPS, whether permanent or reservists; Because
unless you have the tools to get the job done, it doesn't matter how dedicated you
are or how well you are trained.

• Measure that will lead to an improvement in the level of effectiveness and proficiency
with which the SAPS carries out its mandates of combating crime and providing
greater safety and security to our streets; Because achieving these objectives are
the foundation and the very reason for our existence.

Where we consider the draft changes to be supportive of the above objectives, we are in full support
thereof. Where we consider draft changes to distract from reaching these goals, we must oppose it.

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Point-by-Point Feedback on Your Letter
6.1 The system will be managed as a volunteer system in the true spirit of volunteerism. In practice
this means that the reservist system will be voluntary without any payment for duties performed:
We wish to make it unequivocally clear, that we support this position in full. We wish to officially
distance ourselves from our colleagues who have taken mass protest action, demanding payment
for services rendered as volunteers. With all due respect to these co-workers, in our view they do
not belong in the SAPS. They are of the same character as the thousands of SANDF members who
also disregarded standing instructions and the rule of law, all just to bring their grievances to the
fore. These are not the type of men and women that should be given the honour and the
responsibility to secure and safeguard our country, our neighbourhoods or our streets. To be a
police officer should be to place a priority on serving, combating crime and bringing justice to our
streets. To be a reserve police officer should require at least the same level of commitment and
dedication to purpose, if not more than the permanent members because the day we applied to
become reservists, we applied knowing full well that we will always be volunteers. In short, we do
this work because we want to, not because we expect a pay-check. We will provide more comment
on this issue under 6.4.

6.2 There will only be one operational category that will perform general policing duties at sector
level to release permanent members to concentrate on priority crimes:
This issue is not clear and warrants further discussion in our view. What do the words “general
policing duties at sector level” mean and how will this be distinguished from the “priority crimes” that
permanent members should focus on? If by “priority crimes” we are speaking of “trio crimes”, is this
to say that reservists should ignore their mandate to take action when confronted with such serious
crimes and rather wait for permanent members to take action? Surely this cannot be? How can this
separation of responsibilities work in a practical sense that does not undermine the objective of
having a unified SAPS? Clearly there remain many questions on this issue which require
clarification.

6.3 The selection and recruitment requirements for reservists are similar to that of permanent
members, with the exception that they do not require drivers licenses because they will
predominantly be utilized to increase visibility through patrols in the sector where they reside:
This proposal contains positive elements which we support, but it also raises some questions that
require discussion.
Firstly, we support the requirement that reservists undergo a more rigorous recruitment process
because this should help to ensure that a higher quality police reservist is recruited that meets the
same or similar level of standards as the permanent member.
The second part of the proposal, that reservists do not require drivers licenses is positive in the
sense that it makes the prospect of becoming a police reservists more accessible to members of the

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public who share the vision and ideals of the SAPS and who want to do their part as volunteers.
Having said that, we believe it is nonetheless important that reservists who do have drivers licences
be given the opportunity to earn the right to drive police vehicles. Stating that reservists won't need
drivers licences because they will mainly be doing patrols where they live does not negate the fact
that if the situation calls for it a reservist should be able to take control of a vehicle, whether in
pursuit of a suspect or to take evasive action. This can only become a reality if the reservists is
given the same opportunity to train as the permanent member. It is suggested that the issue of
having a driver's license or not and any training made available to reservists who do have drivers
licenses, be dealt with in the same way that the issuing of firearms is being dealt with at present, in
other words, if a reservist has not successfully completed the firearms training and the qualifying
shoot, that reservist may not be issued with, nor carry or use a firearm. Similarly, if a reservist does
not have a driver's licence and has failed to complete the SAPS training modules that relate to
driving state vehicles, such reservists may not drive state vehicles.
The last part of this proposal is somewhat problematic. It states that reservists would
“predominantly” be used “to increase visibility through patrols”. It does not state whether this
exclusively involves foot patrols or vehicle patrols, or both. It is also submitted that visible policing,
though very important in the arsenal of the SAPS' fight against crime, is but a piece of the puzzle
and is by no means the be all and end all of crime-fighting strategies. It is suggested that to require
reservists to focus exclusively on this method would be an underutilisation of the available human
resources that make up the reservists.

6.4 Only applicants that are employed will be considered for recruitment as reservists:
We fully support this position. It is in line with the current national instructions and we support it
because it is likely to help filter out people whose main ambitions in joining the SAPS is of a more
selfish nature than for the purpose of serving their communities and combating crime. We believe
that it was partly because of a relaxation of this existing requirement, that so many unqualified
people ended up being reservists and it was these elements who ended up embarrassing the
government and the SAPS when they embarked on mass protest action, demanding to be
remunerated.

6.5 Structured recruitment drives will be launched to ensure quality and not quantity:
We are in support of this proposal, as it is tied to 6.4 and the objective of improving the recruitment
standards.

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6.6 The recruitment of reservists will be aligned with the training capacity available to train
applicants immediately after recruitment. No reservist will be allowed to report at his or her police
station before training is successfully attended:
It is wise to only recruit reservists based on training capacity because even at present, there are
many people who have applied to become reservists and have even received PERSAL numbers but
have as yet not been trained. Some of these people have been recruited over a year ago and many
have become demotivated and lost interest because no further progress has being made with their
applications. Having said that, training of reservists have over the past few years been hampered by
a lack of training capacity, so placing more focus on expanding and improving the available training
capacity may be necessary to balance the recruitment & training scale.
We would also like to suggest that the last sentence may be unnecessarily restrictive. Of course one
cannot have an untrained reservist out on the street doing patrols and participating in operations,
however since the work of any police officer involves a lot of paperwork and administration, it may
be prudent to allow new recruits – as part of their on the job training – to at least assist at the CSC
under the supervision and mentorship of the person in command.

6.7 Distinctive insignia to clearly identify and distinguish reservists from permanent members:
This is the primary issue to which we object. Some reservists, who have been unfortunate enough
to be subjected to disdain and harsh treatment from unhelpful permanent members, have suggested
that perhaps this is not a bad idea because then the public can distinguish them from such unhelpful
permanent members. Though this kind of comment is understandable at times, we are sure you
would agree that in the bigger scheme of things, this kind of reasoning is of a more emotional and
subjective nature and does not improve or seek to reach the objective of promoting and enhancing
unity within the SAPS. We are therefore united in our collective view that introducing new uniforms,
badges and insignia that “clearly identify and distinguish reservists from permanent members” will
result in more division within the SAPS and not less. This will not enhance unity, but cause more
division. It will not only cause division within the SAPS, it will also cause confusion among the
members of the public and could as a result potentially endanger the lives of reservists.
We believe that to introduce this kind of change would cause such demoralisation among reservists
that it will inevitably lead to a mass exodus of police reservists. We feel very passionate about this
issue.
This has nothing to do with reservists making demands or attempting to put undue pressure on
anyone because we want to have our way. We have already stated our collective views that that
type of conduct does not belong in organisations such as the Police or Army, where each individual
has sworn an oath to protect the Country and its citizens. If we leave the SAPS, it will not be
because we are angry about unmet demands, but because we will have been humiliated and
discriminated against; It will be because we were demoralised and insulted. Every day, police
reservists make the ultimate sacrifice by laying down their lives in the fight against crime, the fight

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for justice. They often do so, side by side with their colleagues who are permanent members of the
SAPS. We as reservists have the same responsibilities, we have to comply with the same
instructions, uphold and enforce the same laws, take the same oaths of service and we bleed the
same colour as our co-workers that are permanent members; yet if the current draft goes through in
its present form, we will be issued with uniforms that differ completely from our colleagues. Our
uniforms, badges, insignia will all be “distinctive” from the permanent members. Not only will we look
different, we will have a different rank structure as well. This is an invitation for ridicule, for division
and for a lack of respect from criminals and the public.

Right now, when we put on our uniforms, we do so with pride because we know that in
doing so we are burdened with both a great honour and a great responsibility. In wearing
our uniforms, we wear the hopes and aspirations of every defenceless victim of crime, that
they may find justice. We wear the desire of a nation that has been cowered into becoming
fearful prisoners in their own homes, afraid to venture outside at night, afraid of who may
lurk in the shadows. They place their trust in the SAPS, which is supposed to be a unit, a
family consisting of permanent members as well as reservists such as we are. We go out
on their behalf, we take the risk they should not have to, we are courageous in their stead,
we work with diligence to try and make the night less terrifying.

Your letter refers to research conducted on an international level. We have also conducted some
research in the limited amount of time we had available and our information to date shows that it
would be unprecedented in the world for a police force or any state authority for that matter to have
two different rank structures and uniforms in the same force or service. We would like to suggest
that there are very good reasons why other countries do not bring such vast distinctions between
their permanent members and their reservists. To distinguish between people in an organisation is
to discriminate. To distinguish is to create confusion with the public and put lives at risk. To
distinguish is to undermine the honour and authority bestowed on reservists that have at all times
worked and sacrificed with the same loyalty and sense of responsibility required of members who
work full-time.

We have other suggestions in this regard, but we would first like to receive feedback on our position
and perhaps also to better understand the motive behind this suggestion, as some reservists are
offended just at the suggestion itself.

6.8 All reservists will be on a two year probation period after training, during which duties may only
be performed under the supervision of a permanent member:
We are in support of this proposal and believe that it is prudent to require new reservists to work

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under strict supervision and be accountable to someone that can mentor them. We would like to
suggest however, that there are many reservists who have undergone extensive training and
experience, that are more than capable of providing the same level of training and mentorship and
these could be considered as an alternative at times when there is a lack of permanent force
mentors available. It is suggested that any reservist above the rank of Constable should be capable.
On a similar note, we have noticed that this 2-year probation period has been introduced into the
promotion paths of Reservists as well in that it is added to each of the ranks from Sergeant and
upwards too. On the issue of promotions, we wish to comment as follows:
• In view of the fact that at present the differences in roles and responsibilities between each
rank from Constables to Captains and even Superintendents are not clearly defined and that
everyone who falls between these different ranks generally work side by side performing the
same duties, we are of the view that imposing a 2-year probation on every rank is not
reasonable or justifiable. Probationary periods are there to give a person who is in a new
position an opportunity to learn all of the new or additional responsibilities that go with that
position; if therefore the person in occupying a higher rank is not expected to take on any
additional responsibilities it begs the question why they would need to be placed on
probation at all, as they would have been performing the same work and there would be no
real change to their circumstances, apart from a difference in title. Conversely, where the
promotion from one rank to the next results in a significant long-term increase in workload
and responsibilities, a 2-year period could prove to be too short.
• Promotions should not just be automatic time-based as it is present, but should rather be
tied to individual performance

6.9 Reservists will not be allowed to report at a police station on own initiative but will be called
based on policing needs and priorities at police station level:
This is the only other issue to which we are heavily opposed. There are a number of reasons why
this is would not be a positive change. Not only are there negative and demoralising repercussions
for reservists, but also for the public at large, who we are trying to serve. Consider the following:
• For a volunteer to continue to render his or her services willingly, the initiative to work, must
remain the volunteer's. One cannot tell a volunteer to work only when it suits you, you have
to allow the volunteer to work when it fits his or her available schedule. The whole idea
behind being a reservist is that these are professional people who have a full-time job and
do not need to be paid, but want to work as policemen for the benefit of the police (who do
not need to pay them) and the general public (because more policemen should mean better
policing and less crime).
• We need more policemen and women out there on a daily basis, not less. When we, as
reservists, go to our stations to report for duty, it is so that we can do our part in helping
combat crime and taking criminals off the streets. Why should we not be allowed to do this

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 whenever and as regularly as we are able to?
• Allowing the permanent members of the SAPS to have so much control over if, when and
where the reservists work will create a platform where personal agendas and egos are likely
to take priority over doing everything possible to fight crime as a unified front. Currently, if we
don not report to our stations on own initiative we will never perform any work in view of the
fact that most of us are never called by permanent members for assistance.
• If you start telling reservists when and when not to work instead of allowing them to work
when they are able, if you remove their initiative and ability to work when they are able then
it is more than likely that they will simply not work any more.

6.10 Reservists function at operational level under the command and control of the permanent
structures and not independently. Reservist coordinators and head reservists are appointed to
ensure proper management and administration of the reservists at provincial and station levels:
It is suggested that this matter requires some discussion and clarification, particularly in its use of
the word “independently”.
If it is to be understood that reservists should not become a law unto themselves and at all times act
within the boundaries of the laws and regulations that apply to all police officers, knowing that they
carry the reputation of the SAPS with them, then we agree with that and fully support it.
If however it is to be understood that no reservist may ever work without being supervised and/or
accompanied by a permanent member, then it would be in conflict with 6.8 which makes it clear that
such supervision is only required during the newly recruited reservist's probationary period, with the
obvious conclusion that if such probation has been passed the reservist must be able to carry out
his or her duties with the same level of competence as the permanent member(s) (or experienced
reservists above the rank of Constable, as we suggested) who supervised him or her for the past 2
years.

6.11 A specific Disciplinary Code, distinct from the Disciplinary Code for the South African Police
Service, should be developed:
We believe that for practical reasons, this may be a move in the right direction for the very simple
reason that a volunteer cannot be disciplined in the same way as an employee. Suspensions
without payment, deductions from wages and similar actions that could be applied to permanent
members who misconduct themselves cannot apply to reservists for obvious reasons. Further
discussion may be required to draft a disciplinary code that would sufficiently act as a deterrent for
reservists misconducting themselves.

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Conclusion
It is undeniable that there are problems within the SAPS, which include, but are not limited to only
the reservists. Resource administration and logistics, discipline, order and respect all seem to be
under threat of collapse at many stations. There are corrupt elements within the SAPS, people who
abuse their powers and positions, people who are in the SAPS for selfish and ambitious reasons
instead of being there to serve and to protect the innocent. Permanent members as well as
reservists who fit this profile, have no place in the SAPS and belong with the criminals they are
tasked with bringing to justice. We distance ourselves from such persons and will do our utmost to
bring them to justice.

It is clear that change needs to come to the SAPS, including the reservists, but we would like to
suggest that much of the content in the National Instructions that apply at the moment, takes these
issues into account and that as such the National Instructions and Standing Orders need less
changing and more implementation and upholding.

We respectfully request that in any further discussions on these matters, the reservists be allowed
to have a delegation of representatives present to participate in the consulting and decision-making
process to ensure a transparent and inclusive process.

At the present moment many reservists feel angry demoralised, alienated and uncertain about their
future in the SAPS as a result of the proposals that have been made and the fact that we were not
involved in the discussion process to date. In view of this, we respectfully request that you would
respond to our comments and suggestions on an urgent basis in order to provide some peace of
mind and to prevent further division from developing between reservists and permanent members.
Please send all feedback and correspondence in this regard to our co-ordinator, R/Constable
Johan D. Stapelberg at SAPS.mtr@gmail.com or by fax to 086 218 0058.

We are positive that an inclusive process is likely to result in positive changes both to the reservist
system and the SAPS as a whole, that will help us to better achieve our policing mandate.

CLUSTER HEAD RESERVIST

VEREENIGING CLUSTER
SENIOR SUPT. A.J. KRUGER

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