Action Society’s legal team sent an urgent letter to the South African Police Service management in the Western Cape regarding the multiple problems facing the Flying Squads. They have also been instructed to prepare a PAIA application to try and hone in on the source of the problem. It has been three months since Action Society first called out the SAPS for its failure to address these issues, but nothing has been done. Action Society is demanding answers.
Last year Action Society was approached by members of various units in the South African Police Service (SAPS) who informed us that they are experiencing significant problems with their radio communication systems. According to Ian Cameron, Director of Community Safety at Action Society, there is already a problem at station level in terms of communication with broken radio systems, and that critical specialised units in SAPS, like the anti-gang units and the Flying Squad, are left exposed and isolated in their efforts to protect the vulnerable in the raging gang wars in the province.
“The radios that SAPS members in the province are using were issued in the 1980s and cannot keep up. In fact the system is collapsing completely and it has become a common practice for police members to use their personal cell phones, at their own cost, to communicate with each other.”
“Bheki Cele is sending good cops to their deaths if they are forced to enter warzone-like scenes blind. We cannot ‘shut up’ about this. In fact, Bheki Cele should be charged with the murder of every police officer who dies because of insufficient resources to do their jobs in the safest way possible.”
