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In a reply to a parliamentary question, Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa has indicated his decision to end R339 million worth of contracts with labour brokers. The minister needs to make a public statement to clarify how he intends to fill the thousands of vacancies that will be created by this decision. I shall write to him tomorrow to ask him to do so. It beggars belief that this announcement appears to have been made with little in the way of forward planning. Amongst the temporary employees used by the SAPS are thousands of private security guards used in peripheral security positions, which helps to free up the number of officers available for operational duty. The decision to place a de facto moratorium on the use of labour broking in his department means that more SAPS officers will presumably now need to be diverted to these secondary positions, leaving fewer resources available for protecting the public. The minister himself has admitted that "the temporary employment of security services allows for the SAPS to focus on its core functions by making trained police officials available for operational duties." So why the decision to stop using these services? One can only imagine this is an attempt to appease calls from the far left for labour broking to be banned and constitutes further evidence that unions are anti-poor and are set on preventing those people without jobs, from obtaining them. But at what cost? In 2008/2009, the police department spent R339 million on labour brokers, including private security firms. The previous year, some R112 million was spent on private security alone, and in 2008/2009, 197 police stations used private security companies to guard and control access to SAPS premises. The result of a moratorium on the use of labour broking will thus essentially be:
• Just under 200 police stations diverting officers away from core responsibilities towards the peripheral roles filled by temporary employees.
• R339 million worth of salaried positions - probably amounting to about 3,000 different posts - needing to be filled in the next financial year just in order for the SAPS to continue at their present operational capacity.
• Assuming that all of the posts cannot be filled immediately, a sizeable number of job losses.
The minister needs to explain on what basis he is making this decision, as there is no justification for banning labour brokers. He also needs to clarify what contingency plan is in place, to ensure that all of these posts are filled. For this announcement to be buried within a parliamentary question suggests that he wants to keep it suppressed, and I understand that he has, up until now, rebuffed comment on this subject. This cannot continue; the minister needs to speak publicly on this matter immediately.