In less than a decade we have yet another National Police Commissioner. Indulge me as I go down the list of so-called top cops who’ve been allowed to wear (and tear up) the blue uniform. We had Jackie Selebi who, at first, seemed to bring a renewed urgency to crime-fighting, but gradually became mired in his own brand of crime. We were willing to overlook the glaring fact that he wasn’t, in anyway, a career cop, capable of operationally guiding the real foot-soldiers of the police service. He lumbered on in his position, even becoming INTERPOL President and, granted, making small strides in making South Africa safer (-ish). Tim Williams then served as the acting commissioner, while Selebi drifted in and out of courts and controversy. Williams, was for the most part, invisible; possibly because he was trying to do some overwhelming damage control in the wake of Selebi. Years passed. Levels of crime vacillated between stable and disturbingly high. Then came the new sheriff in town, Bheki Cele - he of the Stetsons, John Wayne swagger and machine gun-mouth. Again, he was not a career officer, but yet another political deployee, who, in the end, proved completely inept in his handling of the day-to-day administration of the SAPS. I believe he did, in small ways, build up some morale among the men and women in blue. But his macho, oafish way of doing the job helped sully his and the police’s image even. His detractors would argue, he imbued many officers with a dangerous bravado (much like his own), leading some to shoot, beat, kick and bully their way to a brutal form of crime-fighting. The next acting commissioner, Nhlanhla Mwkwanazi, while only in his position a few short months, seemed to do all he can to mitigate the cluster bombs flying around the service. At the same he had the uneviably task of having to defend the abortions of arrogance and power left by Cele. Richard Mdluli, the flagrant abuse of power, corruption, Cele’s ongoing woes; They came fast and furious, and this true career policeman, who seemed capable, just couldn’t manage the skulduggery.
Cele’s dismissal is now official. Mkwanazi, well, he was always just serving in an acting capacity, clearly and sadly failed to impress President Jacob Zuma to any degree of convincing the him a rank-and-file officer is needed to run the SAPS. All the above-mentioned personalities had one visible thing in common – they are men, imbued with testosterone-machismo and host of other male traits, including the refusal to admit it when they are are wrong. We yet again have a new commissioner who has no experience in the field of dealing with crime. The new ‘Top Cop’, yet another deployee of President Jacob Zuma (ultimately the ANC), Riah Phiyega, does however, have an impressive CV, at least taken at face value. We can only wait and see if she can return some dignity to the battered SAPS. Selebi and Cele have left the service looking like a joke; and at this stage the public is left saying ‘Anyone must be better than those two!’
While I view Phiyega in a cynical light (purely based on her not having served in the SAPS and worked her way through the ranks to the top), I do harbour some optimism. She’s a woman (and no, I won’t launch into some feminist praise-singing about how females should be given the chance to prove themselves in all spheres of life, despite their gender. I’ve always believed that anyway). A woman at the head of the police service may just, at this stage, given the mess left by the men who preceded her, be able to bring a much needed woman’s touch to the organisation. By this, I mean, a true sense of organisation and management, which most women innately seem to possess. As a member of the fairer sex, she’s unlikely to be cavalier and may dispense with the reckless machismo, 'mine-is-bigger-than-yours' attitude displayed by her predecessors. This ‘boys don’t cry’ adage which permeates the service, has done very little in creating competent officers. Sensitivity among most law enforcement officials is sorely lacking. Almost weekly we read with horror of victims of rape, particularly of a sexual nature, becoming ' secondary victims' at the hands of officers. In this regard, a lady at the helm could use her position to remind cops, a well-rounded officer needs is both a competent and sensitive one (by sensitive I don't mean in the limp-wristed, flower-arranging sense). Phiyega could/should be open to taking advice (unlike most men who won't even ask for directions), such as perhaps not making any mention of shooting to kill or other moronic quotable quotes. As a woman, perhaps she can bring a true human touch, one which many women have, in instilling dignity back to SAPS members, instead of only urging them just to fight crime, but also to deal with the consequences. For too long the old SAPS adage and mentality of ‘Skiet, skop en donner’ has been enforced and permeated, often leaving victims forgotten and adding to the scourge we label crime.
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