The South African Police Service has been allocated R598-million in this year’s budget to overhaul public order policing, in line with recommendations by the Farlam commission in the wake of the 2012 Marikana killings.Finance minister Pravin Gordhan said yesterday the allocation, to be used over the medium term period of three years, formed part of a total budget of R172-billion for defence, public order and safety services this year.
Public order policing in South Africa has come under scrutiny after several events in which police were accused of acting with too much force.
In 2011, Andries Tatane died at the hands of police during a service delivery protest and, in 2012 34 miners were shot dead at Marikana.
Police were also accused of heavy-handed tactics after last year’s fees must fall protests.
The Farlam commission, established to look into the events at Marikana in August 2012, made several recommendations which would constitute a major overhaul of public order policing in the country.
It recommended that a panel be established to revise and amend all prescripts around public order policing, and to study international best practice for public order policing without the use of automatic weapons.
Specialised training for using water cannons and video equipment was also recommended.
The commission’s report also recommended that all police officers be trained to administer basic first aid and specialist firearm officers be taught to deal with gunshot wounds.
R598m boost to overhaul public order policing
Finance minister Pravin Gordhan said yesterday the allocation, to be used over the medium term period of three years, formed part of a total budget of R172-billion for defence, public order and safety services this year.
Public order policing in South Africa has come under scrutiny after several events in which police were accused of acting with too much force.
In 2011, Andries Tatane died at the hands of police during a service delivery protest and, in 2012 34 miners were shot dead at Marikana.
Police were also accused of heavy-handed tactics after last year’s fees must fall protests.
The Farlam commission, established to look into the events at Marikana in August 2012, made several recommendations which would constitute a major overhaul of public order policing in the country.
It recommended that a panel be established to revise and amend all prescripts around public order policing, and to study international best practice for public order policing without the use of automatic weapons.
Specialised training for using water cannons and video equipment was also recommended.
The commission’s report also recommended that all police officers be trained to administer basic first aid and specialist firearm officers be taught to deal with gunshot wounds.
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