Nationalise SA’s traffic police

SEVERE organisational challenges and poor working conditions pose a constant roadblock for traffic police in their work, compromising the safety of South Africa’s roads.

Traffic departments have disorganised operational structures, preventing traffic officials from having a strategic, co-ordinated approach to policing our roads, and limiting their efficiency and impact. Additionally, they face unacceptable working conditions and conditions of service as they serve on the front lines to protect our communities and save lives.

In response, the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) has proposed recommendations for the government to implement with urgency, beginning with nationalising the various traffic police and standardising their benefits and conditions of service.

Popcru has identified the following issues and possible solutions to improve traffic officers’ efficiency and provide them with the support they deserve as they carry out their work:

1. Standardise traffic police

Currently, traffic police are highly fragmented across the provinces and work without a clear line of command, as there is no uniform approach to the location of traffic police within various provincial departments.

For example, traffic police in Mpumalanga are split between the Department of Public Works and the Department of Transport. Northern Cape traffic officers are located under the Department of Safety and Liaison, Gauteng traffic officers under Community Safety, and Western Cape traffic police under the new Department of Monitoring. This is also reflected in the lack of consistency in their uniforms in the various provinces. Most provinces provide brown uniforms – except Eastern Cape and Western Cape. Similar uniforms with the same insignia and rank displays should be worn by traffic police throughout the country.

Furthermore, shift systems are not applied consistently across provinces. To achieve a strategic, co-ordinated approach to traffic policing, all officers should be located within the national Department of Transport. A standardised shift system should be put in place to ensure a fair system of shared work and accountability.

2. Conditions of service

As a result of the fragmentation in the different provincial departments, traffic officers receive different remuneration and benefit packages. This drives them to relocate to provinces where they will receive better benefits, creating personnel shortages in other provinces. Instead, there must be a uniform approach across all provinces.

The dire shortage of personnel must end. The staff complement in the traffic sector has shrunk and a lack of recruitment drives as a result of the government’s austerity measures is further exacerbating the issue.

For standard procedures, there should be two traffic officers per vehicle, but in many cases, officers are dispatched alone, compromising their safety. The Public Service Act of 1994 allows personnel to retire at the age of 65. However, as traffic officers fall under the category of uniform personnel, they must retire at 60. To standardise conditions of service, traffic officials should be appointed under the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996. 3. Enhance pay and training Traffic officials have no hope of promotion. As they are employed under the Public Service Act, provinces rely on PSCBC Resolution 3 of 2009, and their pay levels and progression are capped.

They need a promotion policy that is in line with that of the SAPS and Department of Correctional Services, which considers years of service, relevant qualifications and performance for career and salary progression.

Despite the dangerous nature of their profession, there are no death grants for them in many provinces. A death grant benefit of R250 000 should be instated across all provinces to provide for their families in the event of death on duty. Traffic police also need to have their danger allowance increased to R1500.

Traffic officials also lack the equipment to perform their duties, such as access to vehicles and firearms. Some officers have reported that they have not been provided with a firearm for six years. This should be addressed immediately so they can defend themselves if necessary.

Change is needed, and we are determined to engage with the government until these improvements are made.