Only 5% of police detectives happy with working conditions - report
A new report by the Solidarity Research Institute claims the overwhelming majority of police detectives are unhappy with their working conditions.
The report, which was released on Wednesday, exposes what the institute says are appalling working conditions at police stations countrywide.
Economics researcher Theuns du Buisson says hundreds of respondents felt they lacked the necessary resources to make a difference.
"The most worrying revelation in this report is that only 5% of detectives said they are happy with their working conditions and even less said they are happy with the resources at their disposal, like lack of access to the criminal resource centre, police officers and detectives having to share computers, telephones and sharing of vehicles."
"Working conditions are appalling, many said they don't have bathrooms, offices not cleaned, others at the risk of being attacked by snakes and other wildlife animals, even the basics of having a fence around the property or working with few staff on the premises. They feel they are on the risk of being attacked by criminals themselves."
Du Buisson says they believe the report offers an incriminating look at the state of decline at the South African Police Service.
"According to the report, respondents even reported that up to four detectives have to share one 15-year-old computer which does not even have internet access to boot. They also mentioned that they lack even the most essential forensic equipment such as gloves, fingerprint powder and DNA sampling sticks. This makes their job impossible."
The report also indicates that the training methods within SAPS are outdated.
"Most felt that training was up to standard, but many felt that it was outdated, and they are not sent on refresher courses or training to update their skills. Some at fraud units have to work on fraud case, the way these crimes committed are completely different from 20 years ago when they attend a police training college because some of them are online, for example extortion."
The institute says detectives with decade-long experience are overlooked for promotion to higher ranks and become disillusioned and leave the service.
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