Although the SAPS pointed out on numerous occasions that it did not have the manpower and therefore ability to execute its constitutional mandate, it still refuses to use available resources such as reservists for support.
Reservists who do not complete their annual competency exercises, will forfeit their status as active reservists and therefore their competence to support the SAPS. It is the SAPS’s duty to ensure that the status is retained.
AfriForum brought an application in the Northern Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to compel the SAPS to ensure that reservists in Kameeldrift complete their competency exercises according to applicable legislation, including the Firearms Control Act (Act 60 of 2000) and the SAPS’s National Instructive 3 of 2014. If the court application is granted, the SAPS will once again have access to additional members to address the manpower shortage.
“It is frustrating that the SAPS is concealing its inability to fight crime effectively with the argument that it does not have sufficient manpower, yet untapped resources exist that the SAPS simply refuses to use,” says Marnus Kamfer, AfriForum’s Legal and Risk Manager for Community Safety.
The SAPS is now given the opportunity to answer to the allegations contained in AfriForum’s application, and to explain why it fails to take the necessary steps in placing the reservists in a state of readiness.
“AfriForum will do everything possible to try and ensure the community’s safety. The fact that members of the public are disadvantaged by the SAPS’s inability to provide timeous and efficient services often stems from insufficient availability of SAPS members, as well as available resources that remain unused,” says Ian Cameron, AfriForum’s Head of Community Safety.