South Africa is known for being a country with high crime rates. Many factors contribute to this notion. Cape Town is ranked 14th on the list of the most violent cities in the world. Furthermore, gang violence in the Western Cape is believed to be the highest in South Africa, with the South African Police Service (SAPS) considering 25 of the Western Cape's 151 police stations as gang related police stations. It is apparent that South Africa as a developing country falls short in addressing the social ills in our communities, such as continued high unemployment rates, gangsterism, and the formation of illegal partnerships due to money greed and boredom (lack of motivational support in the form of activities provided, especially among the youth). The objective of the study was to describe and analyse the police service delivery challenges experienced by Western Cape Station Commanders in the context of the crime statistics retrieved from published SAPS data. This research explored police service delivery challenges through the lens of Station Commanders from the 151 police stations in the Western Cape. Thus, the research question was formulated as follows: "What are the service delivery challenges experienced by Station Commanders at police stations in the Western Cape?" The target population comprised all Station Commanders in the Western Cape. For the data collection, a survey strategy was adopted. The data collection tool was a telephonic interview conducted in a systematic manner. The data of the profiling survey of all Station Commanders in the Western Cape Province conducted by the Department of Community Safety, were utilised to analyse the police service delivery challenges they face. The Know Your Station Commander Tool (KYSCT) is a survey tool developed with 'profiling questions' of the Station Commanders at every police station in the Western Cape. In general, limitations prohibiting police service delivery do exist from time to time, but when the lack of service delivery is experienced over long periods, it points to deep-rooted issues that need intervention, not merely observation. This study revealed that the top ten (10) service delivery challenges experienced by the Station Commanders in the Western Cape are: 1) Shortage of human resources; 2) Insufficient physical and aging resources; 3) Extended unproductive meetings; 4) SAPS 2 building and office infrastructure challenges; 5) Lack of involvement of all government departments; 6) Low morale of members; 7) Administrative-intense tasks to maintain a paper-trail; 8) Community police relations; 9) Population growth and development (police to population ratio unbalanced); and 10) Absenteeism.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uct/oai:localhost:11427/35855 |
| Date | 28 February 2022 |
| Creators | Mars, Lee-Ann Frances |
| Contributors | Cameron, Robert |
| Publisher | Faculty of Humanities, Department of Political Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Master Thesis, Masters, MPhil |
| Format | application/pdf |
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