Police corruption major issue 

Police corruption and their failure to respond to calls for help are the two main problems South Africans have with the police, parliamentarians said on Thursday. Members of the portfolio committees on justice, safety and security and correctional services had been holding public hearings across the country on the proposed new integrated Criminal Justice System (CJS) the past two weeks.

"Participants in the hearings expressed enormous frustration with the South African Police Service and demanded better services from them," said Kgoshi Mokoena, chair of the committee on security and constitutional affairs. Mokoena said in Limpopo people were very dissatisfied about the policing of the country's borders. The police were amongst others accused of taking bribes from foreign nationals entering the country illegally.

Mokoena said a significant number of people had nevertheless recognised that the police were under-resourced and overworked. "There are many good, hardworking, honest police, some of whom have sacrificed their lives in the course of duty." Mokoena said it was clear that the state needs to allocate more resources to the community policing forum's (CPF) structures.

Domestic violence

He said many people feel that the justice system favours criminals at the expense of the victims. An issue which was raised in Limpopo and in the Free State on Thursday was that domestic violence cases were not always taken seriously by the police. "Some women said that instead of protecting women and children from domestic violence, protection orders made them more vulnerable," said Mokoena.

Chair of Parliament's portfolio committee on safety and security, Maggie Sotyu, said the committees have also heard evidence on women abusing the protection order system. "They use them to protect them form their husbands while they go out with someone better in the meantime." Committee members at a public hearing in Kroonstad also heard South Africa's prisoners have too many privileges and eat better meals than people outside prison. It's something we have been hearing since visiting the Eastern Cape, the privileges of inmates, it has come out very strongly," Dennis Bloem, Parliament's correctional services committee chair, said. "The food is better than outside and they watch TV the whole day." Bloem said he had to agree that privileges of prisoners should not be seen as rights. "Prison must be prison," he said.

Mokoena said the members feel that Parliament should give further consideration to the Domestic Violence Act. Many South Africa's also feel that courts should use the language of the majority of the people in an area.

SAPA, www.businessday.co.za, 4 December 2008