About 4,000 “crime-prevention wardens” for Gauteng graduate today at Giants Stadium in Soshanguve — and when they hit the streets tomorrow they’ll be armed with guns.
“Indeed, they will be armed,” Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi told the Sunday Times when asked if the wardens would have guns. “We will not alert those that are criminals [to] the kind of weapons they will carry. But they will be carrying weapons. We cannot unleash them without the necessary ammunition.”
While security experts have cautiously welcomed the plan for additional policing, they have raised concerns about the wardens carrying firearms.
David Bruce, a researcher specialising in public policing and security, said this would expose the patrollers to crime against themselves.
“I would have taken it for granted that they are not armed with firearms, as this would result in them being a major target for the theft of firearms. If they are properly trained it would be reasonable to provide them with batons, mainly for self-defence,” said Bruce.
He said that while he supported the idea of establishing an “auxiliary policing system” to support the policing of high-crime areas, he was concerned at the speed at which the plan was being rolled out. The recruits began their training in February.
“The plan is comparable to private security, which is mainly a resource available to people in more well-off areas. So this can be seen as the provincial government establishing an auxiliary policing system to support the policing of high-crime areas,” he said.
“My concern is that the system is being rolled out too quickly. It is not likely that a high standard of training can be maintained when you are establishing a system like this so quickly. It is concerning that the system is not being established in a more incremental way.
“If you recruit and train 4,000 people in such a short period, there is a major risk that quality standards in terms of selection and training may be compromised.
"The problem isn't necessarily the length of training. The question is whether selection, training and assessment have been carried out in terms of acceptable standards.”
I would have taken it for granted that they are not armed with firearms, as this would result in them being a major target for the theft of firearms
— Researcher specialising in public policing and security, David Bruce
Johan Burger, a senior researcher and policing expert at the Institute for Security Studies, said clarity was needed on what the role of the peace officers would be and what their working relationship would be with the police proper.
“There could be a situation potentially, because they have similar powers,” he said.
“I’m a little worried about the legal mandate and powers given to them. I’m not certain this was the intention of the [Criminal Procedure Act].
"If you look at the constitution, it provides for national policing, which is the South African Police Service and metropolitan policing. I’m not saying it’s illegal, but it’s not in line with the constitution.
“I have seen that Lesufi mentioned they have been well-trained through SAPS and the metro. I’m also worried about them performing their duties with firearms.
“On the positive side, I support this kind of initiative, especially when he says that they will be deployed in areas that cannot afford private security services. More affluent areas have the financial means to fill that gap,” said Burger.
The wardens will have the use of 200 high-powered vehicles. But they will not be supported by an integrated command centre and CCTV cameras as Lesufi originally said they would.
Instead, the wardens will use an existing call centre number while the provincial government negotiates for access to various sources of CCTV footage. The province is also yet to appoint the main provider of the panic buttons to be used by the public.
The new crime-fighters will be based in the 40 police districts with the worst crime rates as identified in police crime statistics.
On Friday, Lesufi told reporters 4,000 wardens would graduate, not 6,000 as planned.
About 21,000 people had applied, of whom half were shortlisted. More than 200 of these were sent home because they had criminal records, some submitted fraudulent matric certificates and others struggled to cope with the intensity of the training. Just 4,000 made it to the end of the training period.
Lesufi said it was not “reckless” to send them out on the streets before a command centre had been established.
“We have a number they will communicate and work with. The command centre has to be an integrated facility. We are integrating it with Gautrain and the Sanral [South African National Roads Agency] gantries. We have to get permission to gain access to these.
"Municipalities also have cameras and we need to have access to them. That is why the command centre is being reconfigured.”
Lesufi said proposals for panic buttons for Gauteng residents were at an advanced stage.
“We are working on three forms of panic buttons. The first will be an app on your smartphone, another on a fixed pole on a CCTV camera, and the third is a small device which can be pressed,” he said.
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