The Police Service Act 1995 and the basic structure of policing

New political arrangements meant lengthy processes of reform not only for the police but for all arms of government that had previously operated under the dictates of undemocratic principles. The development of a new legal framework for the government was central to the process of reform. One of those processes involved the drafting and passing of the South Africa Police Service Act in 1995. The South African Constitution of 1993 required that a new Police Act be put in place to organise the police. The South African Police Service Act gave specifics in terms of Community Police Forums which became the base from which community policing was launched.

What was emphasised in the South Africa Police Service Act was firstly the partnership of the police and the people to solve crime and related problems; secondly, the need for empowerment to create a sense of joint responsibility and joint capacity for addressing crime; and thirdly, the accountability of the police to the people they served and some form of accountability from the community. There was an underlying assumption of the creation of a reciprocal relationship between the police and the people. Chapter 19 (1) of the Police Service Act directed station commissioners to form Community Policing Forums to be broadly representative of the local community. In the Police Service Act, partnership, cooperation and participation meant:

1. Establishing and maintaining a partnership between the community and the police; 2. Promoting communication between the police and the community;

3. Promoting co-operation between the police and the community in fulfilling the needs of the community regarding policing;

4. Improving and rendering of police services to the community at national, provincial, area and local level;

5. Improving transparency in the police and accountability of the police to the community; 6. Promoting joint problem identification and problem solving by the police and the community. (South African Government 1995: The Police Service Act, Chapter 7, Section 18 (1))

This study looks at how the police have translated the above core principles as written in policy, in practice and how different levels of state and community representatives interpret or translate these core issues expressed about community policing in policy. It will be shown in Chapter Six how the practicalities

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unfolded in particular social orders and the challenges that were associated with this process. The discussion in Chapter Six also shows how different social orders affect the nature of community policing.

In the Police Service Act, structures were put in place aimed towards promoting the accountability of the police, for example an Independent Complaints Directorate to investigate complaints of police misdemeanor and abuse of power. As a measure to promote accountability, the National Commissioner was required to publish his plans and policing priorities. This move was to measure efficiency and effectiveness of implementation of the police’s objectives against actual results.

The South African Police Force was changed to the South African Police Service, signifying the service aspect of the police. The name of the ministry responsible for the police was changed from Law and Order to the Ministry of Safety and Security. In every province, the provincial cabinet appointed a minister in the provincial Ministry of Safety and Security. National divisions and provincial demarcations were created in line with the Police Service Act, and geographical boundaries for each province were made. National and Provincial Secretariats for Security were created by the government with the vision of having civilians as part of the political control of the police. This control evaporated in policy and practice over time.

The Ministry of Safety and Security is responsible for policy and legislation development with regard to the South African Police. The ministry is responsible for implementing national policy and legislation, co- ordinating the functions of the department, and preparing the initial legislation and duties which it is mandated to perform by the Constitution or national legislation.

At the national level, the Ministry of Safety and Security provides the budget for policing to all provinces. In the nine provinces Provincial Ministers for Community Safety are Members of the Executive Council (MEC) and are accountable to the Ministry of Safety and Security at the national level. The provincial and station commissioners report to the province’s MEC who then reports to the National Commissioner of the police. The work of the ministry from the early phase of transformation was to ‘put together a plan to amalgamate, rationalise and transform the police into an institution embodying all the principles of accountability, efficiency, impartiality and transparency’ (Lue 1995:22).

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Municipal Police services exist in the major cities. They are created and financed by municipalities and their work mostly involves crowd control, crime prevention, and traffic enforcement. Their services and powers relate to the respective municipality. Van Der Spuy’s (2006) comment on the existence of the municipal policing service is that many municipalities have acknowledged the difficulties of having a round-the-clock policing service, the expense of running such a service and problems of coordination between the police and the municipal police. Neo-liberal forms of governance have resulted in cut-downs in the financing of various municipal initiatives that have an impact on municipal safety initiatives.