Mr Chairman, I congratulate the Minister on being appointed the new Minister of Police. The task ahead of him is very daunting indeed.
The IFP is gravely concerned about criminality within the Police Service. The state of our Police Service is disheartening and many communities in our country have lost faith in the ability of the police to protect them. Officers continually arrest their own members who have been colluding with criminals or who may be criminals themselves. Trusting the police to do their jobs is a difficult thing to do, because not even dockets are safe in some police stations.
The IFP is on record for its opposition to the civilian leadership of the Police Service. Our police officers themselves are in dire straits as there is a complete lack of strong leadership in the Police Service. The civilian leadership tasked with leading the police is not appointed from within the Police Service itself as a natural progression for upward mobility based on merit and experience, but is imposed from outside. There have been many glaring weaknesses in the civilian leadership, beginning with Mr Jackie Selebi, the former national commissioner, followed by Mr Bheki "Shoot-to- kill" Cele and now, uMama Riah Phiyega.
None of them could, or can, lead the police. This is not a reflection on their general abilities, but the Police Service is a specialised field. Leaders to lead the police need to come from amongst their ranks. The civilian leadership is not taken seriously by the police force, because they have no experience and cannot relate to what officers go through on the ground. If people you lead do not respect you, you are not leading anyone. The Marikana massacre was a clear demonstration of what happens when the police are completely leaderless.
Corruption in the Police Service is another enormous challenge that you have to overcome, hon Minister. There is a proverb that goes, "A fish rots from the head down" and in this case it applies to the Police Service's leadership. With Jackie Selebi conniving with big criminals, how can it not have affected the lower ranks? He was caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar, sentenced, and released on suspicious medical grounds. Mr Bheki "Shoot-to-kill" Cele was also removed from the leadership post under allegedly corrupt circumstances due to the leasing scandal.