Police union to fight mass dismissals

HUNDREDS of SA Police Service members and their union, Popcru, say the process followed to sack about 1000 of them because they have criminal records is grossly unfair and unlawful.

Lawyers for the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union will today argue in the Port Elizabeth Labour Court that the entire process put in place by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and national police commissioner Riah Phiyega to root out criminal elements in the police should be set aside.

A two-year audit of the police found in 2013 that some 1500 SAPS members had criminal records – many for serious crimes. Mthethwa gave Phiyega just three months to rid the police service of these criminal elements.

In July last year, Phiyega established fitness boards to assess whether members with criminal records were fit to serve in the SAPS. - Adrienne Carlisle