27 Nov 2013

Mahalapye West MP, Mr Bernard Bolele has advocated for special constables to be employed on a permanent and pensionable basis.

Commenting on the State-of-the-Nation Address in Parliament, Mr Bolele explained that special constables held full police powers hence government should recognise their importance in crime reduction in the country and employed them permanently not on contract terms as is the current situation.

He said the crime rate in the country might be declared a national crisis, should the police service not react promptly to adopt the special constables’ permanently in to the system.

Mr Bolele credited special constables for their constant patrols and visibility around neighborhoods and highlighted that in an intensified drive against criminality, police visibility certainly plays a big role in maintaining peace and order.

“The mere presence of a policeman in a busy area could always deter a criminal from pulling off his trade and that is exactly what special constables have achieved ever since the propgramm was introduced,” he said.

Special constables, he said, were at times deployed in remotest areas and had become an essential part of police routine to prevent lawlessness.

He said it could not be denied that criminality thrived in the absence of security and special constables have added extra manpower to the police service.

Mr Bolele also cautioned that the low special constable wages might result in them conniving with criminals for bribery as a way of supplementing their lifestyles. He further pleaded with the police service to adopt in high numbers performing special constables in the police system at the end of their contracts. ENDS