Phiyega fitness boards a no-go

CERTAIN police officials with previous convictions will no longer have to undergo fitness boards to declare whether or not they are fit to serve in the SAPS, the Port Elizabeth Labour Court ruled yesterday.

Judge Robert Lagrange said members with petty convictions prior to September last year who were not sentenced to a term of imprisonment would not qualify for fitness boards, a process which would have ultimately seen them dismissed from the force.

He said if members had declared their convictions to the SAPS, then the fitness tests would be unlawful. National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega established the tests in July last year to assess whether members with criminal records prior to September were fit to serve in the SAPS.

While the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) did not dispute that the SAPS was entitled to dismiss officers who had committed crimes, they said the process by which it was done was grossly unfair and unlawful because it deprived police of the opportunity to give their side of the story. - Kathryn Kimberley