FT923-10363 _AN-CG4BOAAKFT 920731 FT 31 JUL 92 / Political role undermines police force: The feared servants of the state By PHILIP GAWITH THE South African Police force has had a bad week. It started with a British academic delivering a devastating indictment of its handling of the Boipatong massacre last month. This was followed by allegations from a prominent pathologist that the lower ranks of the police were totally out of control and responsible for 90 per cent of deaths in custody. A judicial investigation into the killing of 18 people last year in Mooi River in Natal then heard details of another grievously deficient police investigation. To cap it all, renewed allegations of police torture surfaced in Cape Town and there were two further deaths in police custody. Seldom can a country's police force have had a more important role to play, and seldom can its competence to perform this role have been more in dispute. Yet it is this force that will have to carry the burden of maintaining order in the week of unprecedented industrial disruption that lies ahead. The government has already given notice that it will not allow demonstrations planned for next week to lead to violence. Earlier this week it announced it was deploying an extra 5,000 troops in 14 Transvaal townships, ostensibly to facilitate the repair of infrastructure and services. Few observers believe, however, that the timing of the deployment is unrelated to the general strike called by the African National Congress for next week. The poor image of the police is not something new. Years of enthusiastic implementation of apartheid laws did terrible damage to their image in the black community. Two years ago, though, it appeared a new era had dawned when, in January 1990, President F W de Klerk signalled a fundamental shift in policing policy. 'We will not use you any longer as instruments to attain political goals,' he said. 'This is the responsibility of politicians. We will have to stop asking you to fight in the front trenches in the political battle. Let the politicians look after the politics.' The interim may have seen the police relieved of the burden of enforcing apartheid laws, but they have still played an important role in enforcing state authority, often between warring political factions. About a third of the force are engaged in combating violence and unrest. The death toll in these township clashes is high - more than 13,000 dead since 1984. An under-reported fact, however, is the high number of police fatalities. Last year 137 police were killed during execution of their duty and this year that figure is already more than 120. Radical elements of black political organisations make no effort to disguise their hatred of the police. A poster often seen at rallies in recent weeks has proclaimed 'Kill a cop a day'. These police victims are more likely to be black than white. About 55 per cent of the 110,000-strong force are non-white and the most vulnerable of all are the black police living in townships. The upper echelons, however, remain overwhelmingly white. The 1992 police year book reveals an all-white general staff of 53, the vast majority of whom are Afrikaners. It is difficult to believe these men have the will to effect fundamental reform. There have been efforts to change with the times. At the police training college in Pretoria, where all basic training is done, instructors say they put increasing emphasis on rendering service. They acknowledge that, previously, they had allowed a 'them and us' attitude to creep into their policing. Now the emphasis is on partnership. The police want to be seen not as a force, but as a service, says commanding officer, Brigadier Lollo van Vuuren. As the events of past week show, however, there is a yawning gap between good intentions in basic training and the grim-faced policeman which many South Africans have grown to fear. ------------------------------------------------ POLICE FORCE ------------------------------------------------ Black 49,268 White 47,675 Coloured 9,344 Asian 4,033 Total: 110,320 ------------------------------------------------ CIVILIAN GUN REGISTRATION licensed individuals ------------------------------------------------ 1987 140,537 1988 123,465 1989 123,415 1990 215,044 1991 179,241 ------------------------------------------------ Total at end 1991:1.2m licence holders 3.2m licenced firearms ------------------------------------------------ The Financial Times London Page 3