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FILE| South African Police Service constable badge.
The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) in the North West has called for priority to be given to strengthening the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the province.
The union says the absence of a permanent provincial police commissioner is hindering efforts to tackle escalating crime.
The position has remained vacant since December 2024, leaving the province without stable leadership for nearly two years.
POPCRU North West Provincial Secretary, Johannes Dire, says the situation in the province is disastrous.
Dire says, “Our pressure is for the national commissioner to put much of the efforts in the province of the North West and not only the issue of the provincial commissioner. If you look at the Project Ten Thousand, which the minister launched about five or six years ago, the North West also remains a province that has not benefited from the recruitment of new constables. Other provinces might have received a chunk of new constables or police officers to fight crime. North West barely benefited from the process.”
POPCRU in the North West concerned over the continued delay in appointing a permanent Provincial Police commissioner:
