Johannesburg - The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) is calling on Police Minister Bheki Cele to urgently review and increase danger allowance for public service act appointees.
The union said, since 2001, the allowance remained stagnant at R400. Popcru said this during the annual National Commemoration Day held in Tshwane on Sunday.
“We call upon Minister Cele to urgently review and increase danger allowance for public service act appointees, which has been stagnant at R400 since 2001, whereas in line with the signed Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (SSSBC) agreement, the initial allowance was supposed to have been increased yearly with the Consumer Price Index (CPI), including the cost-of-living adjustments and the frequency of the dangers these officers find themselves. In line with this agreement, it is supposed to be standing at R1500,” said Popcru national spokesperson Richard Mamabolo.
He said with the same vigour and energy the minister is known to possess and in making these ceremonial events meaningful, the government and Cele’s department should urgently work on establishing and implementing danger insurance for all public servants.
“This danger insurance will serve as a step towards improving their circumstances,” Mamabolo said.
The ministry of police told The Star that Cele had noted the call.
“Cele has noted this call and other matters relating to the safety of police raised by the union. These matters will be ventilated in the summit that is planned for this purpose,” said Cele’s spokesperson Lirandzu Themba.
Mamabolo further said: “Since the beginning of the current year, it is reported that 33 police officers had been killed on duty thus far, meaning, in the coming year, 33 or more family members will again go through the same process of being paraded.”
He said the trend has been taking place while there has not been any plan by the SAPS to minimise incidents of police killings, and their calls for a Policing Indaba have fallen on deaf ears.
“Worth noting is that the above fugue of the 33 members excludes those killed off duty and those injured on duty; the majority of whom are now disabled without any benefits from the SAPS,” Mamabolo said.
He said while there is the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA), which aims to provide compensation for disablement caused by occupational injuries or diseases sustained or contracted by employees, or for death resulting from injuries or diseases, and provide for matters connected therewith, most members agree that their contribution is far too little.
“With these losses of lives while on duty, immediate families continue to receive a death grant of R250 000, an amount that has not changed since its inception, with the expectation that it will assist in taking the children of slain officers through schooling in the main.
“This amount is a disgrace and way less than what the 23 squad members of Banyana Banyana team, our national pride, were promised of R400 000 each for winning the recent continental tournament,” he said.
Mamabolo said the experience relayed by most deceased members’ families is that these death grants have proven not to be sustainable in the long-term, leaving behind immediate families of these officers under worse conditions and unable to fund their children’s schooling needs and address other basic family needs.
“The situation is even worse now with the high cost of living and the increased unemployment rate, while even those employed feel the pinch,” Mamabolo said.
He said the union has always maintained that this amount is insufficient as statistics show that most of the police officers who are killed while on duty are young, most only starting to establish families with huge responsibilities while earning salaries that are out of touch with the risks they take daily.
“Our members in the criminal justice cluster are agitated by the continued loss of their colleagues and need real measures that will ensure practical measures in reducing the numbers of police being killed and injured, regardless of whether they are on or off duty,” Mamabolo said.
The Star