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23 March 2009

Introduction

We would like to take this opportunity to welcome all the police reservists who are with us today. We also convey our sincere greetings to the thousands others across the corners of our beautiful land.

Gathered here today, are the men and women who have honoured the duty to contribute to the realisation of the safety and security of every South African.

You have taken on this immense responsibility driven by the desire to ensure that we as a people succeed in our collective effort to realise the goal of a better life for all.

You are the volunteers who have taken it upon their shoulders to ensure the achievement of the goal of reducing serious and violent crime, in particular, contacts crimes by seven to ten percent a year. The people of our land value your contribution and sacrifice.

Legal framework

As all of us are aware, the South African Reserve Police Service is governed by the South African Police Service Act, the Regulation (22 March 2002) for the South African Police Service and the National Instruction 1/2002 for the South African Police Service.

The basic requirements for successful application into the Service are contained in Regulation 11 of the SAPS Regulations, which stipulates that, applicants:
* must be in possession of a grade 12 certificate or equivalent,
* must not be younger than 18 or older than 30,
* will have to be physically and mentally fit and submit to a physical and mental assessment,
* must be prepared to take the oath of office,
* must undergo psychometric assessment,
* must be prepared to undergo training,
* must not have visible tattoos when wearing uniform,
* must be proficient in English and one other language,
* must have no previous criminal convictions,
* must be prepared to serve anywhere in the country,
* must have permanent residence in the RSA, and,
* must be in possession of a driver’s licence for a light motor vehicle.

Reserve Police Service

To facilitate absorption of police reservists into the service, a number of exceptions have been agreed as follows:
* reservists whose psychometric assessments have been successful do not rewrite the assessment when applying to become police trainees,
* reservists joining the Service can be between 18 and 35 years, and,
* On applying for permanent employment, reservists who are in possession of a learner’s licence are assisted to obtain a driver’s licence.

Our system allows volunteers to contribute to the safety of their communities as part of the community policing philosophy.

On joining the South African Reserve Police Service, reservists sign a certificate acknowledging among other things, the fact that the reservist system is a voluntary system without any remuneration.

It is only natural that whenever people are involved in a continual endeavour to defeat a social scourge as serious as crime, there will arise from time to time, challenges before and within us.

When this happens, the correct and time-tested route is of course to do as you have proposed, sitting down, discussing and analysing the situation.

We should ensure though, that we do not allow a situation where the challenges of the day would detract us from our strategic goal of defeating crime.

History

On 6 February 2008, reservists submitted a memorandum outlining their concerns to the President of the Republic. The memorandum called, among others, for:
* the unconditional integration of reservists into the Service,
* the retrospective payment of reservists following amendments to the National Instruction,
* an inquiry into intimidation, discriminatory and unfair labour practices against reservists,
* a reservist budget,
* an independent forensic audit of payments to reservists, and,
* an extension of benefits to the level applicable to full time members.

On 20 May 2008, reservists in Gauteng submitted another memorandum. The concerns raised in the memorandum were basically the same as those articulated in the earlier communication, the only additional point being the lack of specialised training.

Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU)’S Provincial Organiser for KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) wrote to the Minister on 26 June 2008. Among the issues he raised were that:
* the reservists are not treated with dignity,
* reservists are ignored when there are vacancies,
* the thirty-one age limitation,
* improvement of working conditions of reservists and hospital guards, and,
* all reservists and hospital guards be integrated into the Service.

Summit meeting

Following these developments, the then Minister for Safety and Security, comrade Charles Nqakula, agreed to meet with the reservists. That meeting was postponed when the Minister sought to meet with provincial MECs on 30 September 2009 regarding issues affecting reservists.

On February 23, 2009, reservists submitted another memorandum to the President of the African National Congress, comrade Jacob Zuma. The concerns raised therein, were essentially the same as those raised in previous memoranda.

We as the Ministry have always expressed our wish to meet with reservists not only to talk about their problems, but also to express our appreciation about the contribution they make in the fight against crime.

The concerns you have raised are foremost in our minds. Mindful of the legal framework that regulate the service, we hope that today’s discussions will help us to resolve the challenges.

We would not wish to speak in a manner that could pre-empt the discussions, nevertheless, as combatants in the fight against crime, it is imperative that we should for the future agree on mechanisms aimed at ensuring regular and structured discussion.

We should avoid a situation where we meet only when challenges have piled up and tensions raised. Driven by your passion to ensure the safety and security of the people of our land, you as the reservists have an important role to play.

We again thank all reservists on rendering a selfless service to the people of our land.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Safety and Security
23 March 2009