Popcru says budget cuts could increase violence against officers

According to police union, Popcru, cuts on budget could lead to increase in attacks on officers.

This comes after Finance Minister Tito Mboweni revealed this week that in order to help fund the R10.5 billion allocation for SAA’s business rescue plan, the police department’s budget would be cut by almost R1.2 billion

There are worries that fewer resources could lead to a further increase in attacks on police as it has been reported that since April, more than 30 police officers have been killed across South Africa.

Popcru’s Richard Mamabolo indicated that attacks on police officers were turning out to becoming a national crisis.

“It doesn’t seem like there’s a plan to cap police killings but at the same time looking at the announcement by Minister Tito Mboweni of the budget cuts within the SAPS, it doesn’t look like we are going anywhere in the right direction.”

He explained that if the police get a budget cut, it would hinder the ability to provide visible policing and make it difficult to deal with issues around resource allocation across the country.

“There are challenges around the allocation of resources. We’ve complained about the allocation of resources. The police is under capacitated and understaffed and of course, the tools of the trade being used has been a challenge.”

Mamabolo stated that the service was already financially stretched.

He indicated that last year, there was a shortage of ammunition, resulting in officers not being able to complete firearm tests.