I am used to this kind of noise once I start speaking, not before I speak! Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister and hon members of this House, this year the SA Police Service celebrates 100 years of its existence. We congratulate the family in blue in their centenary celebrations. As citizens of our beloved country, we celebrate 20 years of democracy. The centenary celebrations of the SA Police Service, SAPS, and the budget debate provide us with the great opportunity to look back at the SAPS, to take stock and look forward to where we are going.
I want to take the last three decades under review. Let us start in the 1970s. How many of us know that it was only in 1972 that women were allowed to enlist for the first time on the same basis as men in the SA Police? In 1984, there were 842 police stations in South Africa. The SA Police, SAP, had 44 696 members, of whom more than half, 23 206, were from the white population. The rest of the population groups made up the other 21 490. In 1985, we had 1,4% police officers for every 1 000 members of the population. In 1986, the SA Police consisted of a uniformed branch, a detective branch and security branch, with no crime prevention arm. The SA Police was a semi-military organisation.
The role of the SAP was one of upholding the illegitimate apartheid government through the preservation of internal security, the maintenance of law and order and the investigation of offences. The emphasis was on the preservation of internal security through the maintenance of law and order. Very little time, money or resources were used to fight crime. The National Party government enacted legislation to strengthen the relationship between the police and the military. After that the SA Police was heavily armed. The SAP was granted extraordinary powers to quell what was coined "unrest" and to conduct counterinsurgency activities. In 1983, the SAP's power to search and seize without a warrant was extended to the whole country.
From this it is clear that the SAP, at that point in time, was used as a political tool, like most available state machinery at that point in time, to uphold an unjust, oppressive system. Because of this the majority of our people saw the SA Police as their enemy. This is an important aspect ... [Interjections.]