Stand Up and Support The Police

As of the of last month, 52 police officials had been killed this year. Since then, several more police deaths have been reported. This time last year, South Africa had lost 47 police officers - meaning the number is increasing and we have a crisis on our hands. This crisis was captured by the visit President Jacob Zuma paid to the family of slain metro police officer Simon Mabatamela from Katlehong, early this month. Mabatamela was killed at a shopping complex in Rosettenville during an armed robbery, in full view of CCTV camera. Not every day does a head of state interrupt his schedule to pay such a visit. This can only mean that Number Once has had enough of the brutal killings of our men and women in blue. It is a feeling all law-abiding citizens should identify with. Critically, this feeling must translate into collective determination and a resolve by our communities to flush out criminality from our midts.

We must be outraged when those who have chosen to serve our country and protect its inhabitants fall victim to the marauding guns of criminals and thugs. Ultimately, an attack on our policemen and policewomen is an attack on us. Their deaths compromise our safety. Every cop killed means less human capital available in the police service to serve our communities. We must see these killings for what they are - an attack on our collective self. These horrendous and cowardly acts against our police officers have gone on for far too long now and we need to mobilise society to stop them. The message must go forth to our churches, mosques, community-based organisations, schools and every nook and cranny in the country, that enough is enough. We cannot let criminals undermine our right to safety and security. Firstly, they came for us as citizens and now they are going for our men and women in blue. We have to talk about this horror and mobilise the whole country against it. Let us stand up, South Africa, and support our police.

There are some practical things we can do in this regard. In our church, for example, we intend to go back to our annual police Sunday service where we honour, pray and highlight the role of our men and women in blue. We also take this initiative to all our churches within the Rhema Family of Churches and the SA Council of Churches. It would be gratifying to see the religious community in general taking up the cause on behalf of our police service. But more can be done by society to show our support for our police officers. For example in the US last year when two New York officers were gunned down as they sat in their patrol car, scores of people joined in solidarity in pro-police marches across that country. That kind of support for the police was a marvel to watch. We need a similar consciousness in our country. Even a simple thank you to our police officers could go a long way in demonstrating our support for them.

Many years ago, Professor Bongani Khumalo, using the SA Men's forum, encouraged citizens to thank police officers when they came across them, at a roadblock, for example. Instead of being irritable and coming across as though they are wasting your time, a simple "thank you, officer for your effort in improving our collective safety" would go a long way to boost their morale. Sometimes one gets the sense that police are poorly understood by citizens. Of course, it does not help their cause when some in the service act in a manner that does not befit their uniform. For example, there have been despicable cases of police brutality in South Africa, but we must understand that police who engage in such behaviour are in the minority and we have a system - both within our police service and in terms of our laws - that deals with the rogue behaviour police officers where and when it occurs.

Withour minimising the losses families have suffered from the death of loved ones due to police brutality, it must be pointed out that, generally, police officers are a unique breed of public servants because they put their lives on the line to protect ours. They are our first line of defence against criminals and anarchy. For keeping South Africa and its communities safe we need to show them our support. Finally, I would like to see harsher sentences for cop killers. Is it because their lives are any more precious than ours? No, but because murder is the worst crime in the book but for which, perversely, the penalty is sometimes less satifactory.