Popcru and SAPS find common ground on elections plan issues

POLICE and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) president Thulani Ngwenya and the South African Police Service (SAPS) have reached common ground on some of the outstanding issues ahead of the elections deployment.

This comes after weeks of not seeing eye to eye when it comes to labour-related matters and elections deployment strategy.

Last week, Popcru accused the national SAPS leadership of failing to come up with a clear plan on its strategy to police the upcoming elections.

On Thursday, Ngwenya said the police union is deeply concerned about how the SAPS’s management is conducting itself as it prepares for the upcoming national general elections on May 29.

“Popcru has won significant victory on behalf of its members in the SAPS in the run-up to the national general elections, with all its demands being met,” Ngwenya said.

Among those demands was compensation for cancelled leave, the shift system and allowances, on duty status as well as the national directive which includes a strategy on policing the elections.

Last week, Popcru had indicated that the union had tried for more than three months to meet with the national police commissioner and the rest of the SAPS leadership, to no avail. Reports suggest that a meeting was secured on Friday to iron out some of these issues.

“We stand by our belief that there are some managers who have deliberately tried to derail policing preparations and sabotage the national elections for their own mischievous ends … We want to warn SAPS management that their recent actions are unacceptable and risk damaging the relationship with Popcru,” Ngwenya said.

On Sunday, the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (Natjoints) briefed the country on the state of readiness by law enforcement agencies for the elections on Wednesday.

IOL reported that Deputy National Commissioner Lieutenant-General Tebello Mosikili indicated that various law enforcement agencies were in charge and in control.

“To all voters, go out there having full confidence that the Natjoints’s plan is on track to protect your rights and our democracy. We are in charge, we are in control. As law enforcement agencies, we will ensure your safety throughout this period,” the deputy commissioner said.

The Star