22 Aug 2017, Cape Town: The police ministry is planning to reduce the number of police officers in the country by 3000, despite fears from within the SAPS that police are losing the fight against crime. The SAPS’s performance plan which was tabled to Parliament has revealed that its aims to reduce its personnel from 194,431 in 2017/18 to 191,431 by 2019/20.

The report claims that the department does not expect the reduction in numbers to have a significant medium term impact in its performance in the fight against crime.

The department claims that most of its operations in regards to investigation and detection of crime will remain constant in the medium term despite the reduced number of police officers.

The Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape has raised concerns about the reduction in numbers and claims that the province already faces a shortage of police officers.

IOL reports that the DA claim the ratio of police officers to citizens is alarmingly high in most areas and especially in crime ridden areas. According to the DA, 21 police stations in and around Cape Town have less than one officer per 500 citizens.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) which represents around 150,000 police officers says the plan to reduce staff numbers is ill conceived and not well thought out and should only be considered after a sustained reduction of the overall crime rate in the country is achieved.

Will the decrease in police lead to an increase in crime or will better trained officer’s help to combat crime? Please send us your thoughts and views.