SAPS` COSTLY RESTRUCTURING A Review of Public Order Policing Capacity

This report examines the role of the Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) and the South African Police Service (SAPS) Visible Police (VISPOL) in crowd management. It highlights significant gaps in training, command and control, and inter-agency cooperation, particularly between the EMPD and SAPS Crowd Control Units (CCUs).

• There is a significant discrepancy between official training schedules and actual practice within the EMPD POP unit; while training is scheduled for every Wednesday, field needs often take precedence, leading some officers to report no in-service training at all.
• A critical gap exists in quality assurance, as the SAPS national training division does not perform quality assurance on the initial training of metro officers, and there are no established unit standards or principles for maintaining that training.
• There is a sharp conflict in perception between EMPD officers and SAPS CCU members; while EMPD officers view CCUs as too 'soft' or 'lenient', CCU members describe metro officers as 'trigger-happy', claiming they use 'maximum force' and 'live ammunition' without negotiating with crowds.
• Confusion exists regarding the legal chain of command during mass gatherings. Although the SAPS Act mandates that SAPS must have overall command, some EMPD personnel believe the EMPD Chief can take overall command over SAPS if present.
• The EMPD faces capacity and equipment shortages, including a lack of bulletproof vests for POP officers and aging Nyala vehicles that require frequent servicing.
• SAPS Visible Police (VISPOL) began receiving crowd management training in 2006 to assist CCUs and manage low-to-medium risk gatherings, but their performance has been criticized by CCU members for a lack of discipline and failure to carry out crime prevention functions.

APA

Omar, B. (2007). SAPS` COSTLY RESTRUCTURING A Review of Public Order Policing Capacity. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.org/01-oct-2007-monograph-no-138-saps-costly-restructuring-a-review-of-public-order-policing-capacity-bilkis-omar/chapter-6-the-role-of-metro-police-and-saps-visible-police-in-crowd-management

Chicago

Omar, Bilkis. SAPS` COSTLY RESTRUCTURING A Review of Public Order Policing Capacity. Institute for Security Studies, 2007. https://issafrica.org/01-oct-2007-monograph-no-138-saps-costly-restructuring-a-review-of-public-order-policing-capacity-bilkis-omar/chapter-6-the-role-of-metro-police-and-saps-visible-police-in-crowd-management.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Omar |first1=Bilkis |title=SAPS` COSTLY RESTRUCTURING A Review of Public Order Policing Capacity |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=October 2007 |url=https://issafrica.org/01-oct-2007-monograph-no-138-saps-costly-restructuring-a-review-of-public-order-policing-capacity-bilkis-omar/chapter-6-the-role-of-metro-police-and-saps-visible-police-in-crowd-management |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{omar2007saps, author = {Omar, Bilkis}, title = {{SAPS` COSTLY RESTRUCTURING A Review of Public Order Policing Capacity}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2007}, month = oct, url = {https://issafrica.org/01-oct-2007-monograph-no-138-saps-costly-restructuring-a-review-of-public-order-policing-capacity-bilkis-omar/chapter-6-the-role-of-metro-police-and-saps-visible-police-in-crowd-management}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }