By Norm Dixon
JOHANNESBURG — The Police and Prison Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) is committed to building a democratic police service purged of "Third Force" elements, restructured to reflect South African society and respectful of trade union rights.
POPCRU was formed by black prison warders and police officers opposed to apartheid and the role police played in defending it. It also fought against discrimination against black police and prison warders by white officers. POPCRU president Enoch Nelani spoke to Green Left Weekly recently.
POPCRU's founding president, Lieutenant Gregory Rockman, made international news in 1989 when he refused to obey a command by a white officer to attack protesting school children in Mitchell's Plain near Cape Town. He tried to prevent the police from viciously whipping the protesters. Rockman told the world's press that the police were "a pack of wild dogs" and he was ashamed of being a police officer.
Rockman and 50 other police and prison warders were sacked in 1990 after they openly protested against police brutality and complained of discrimination against black officers by their white commanders. He then formed POPCRU as a progressive trade union for police and prison officers.
Rockman has since resigned from POPCRU and now sits with the African National Congress members of the National Assembly in Cape Town. Enoch Nelani was elected president of POPCRU in April.
Nelani's office is small, with the minimum of furniture. The noise of the central Johannesburg traffic threatens to drown out his words as he describes how POPCRU will support the new democratically elected government. The struggles of POPCRU's members played a part in the coming of democracy to South Africa.
"We have a new situation. We have a democratic government in place, and we support that government. But it must not be supported at the expense of the workers. The ministers must create a climate favourable for all workers so that they are part and parcel of these changes", he said. POPCRU sees police and prison warders as workers and trade unionists, not as a force opposed to other workers.
Referring to an incident in May when striking Independent Electoral Commission workers were arrested, Nelani told Green Left Weekly, "The attitude that was displayed that day in chasing workers with dogs reminds us of the past era, and we condemn that action with all that it deserves".
Strikes must be resolved by negotiation between the parties involved, not by police intervention. "We don't think in a democratic society we will have police chasing people with dogs ... We will draw the line. We are saying people have the democratic right to voice their grievances."
POPCRU will pursue its own outstanding grievances left over from the apartheid era, such as wage parity with white police and the reinstatement of all police and prison officers dismissed for their involvement in POPCRU activities since 1990. POPCRU opposes any restriction on the right of police and prison officers to strike to win demands on pay and conditions.
The organisation also opposes a recommendation by the Goldstone Commission that police unions be prohibited from affiliating to larger trade union federations. POPCRU plans to join COSATU in the near future.
Nelani called for major changes in the leadership of the police and prison services within the next six months. "The police and prison services have not reflected the composition of society. POPCRU would like the new ministers of law and order and correctional services to embark on a program of affirmative action and equal opportunities. We believe there are competent black officers who could be promoted to positions with immediate effect.
"POPCRU would like to see change at all levels of management. We understand that this process could be resisted by certain elements inside the police and prison services because they have benefited in the past." In that event, Nelani said, POPCRU would mobilise to defeat them.
POPCRU is also in favour of weeding out police who were involved in the apartheid state's attacks on the liberation movement — the infamous "Third Force". "Those people who committed atrocities should disclose what they have committed. Indemnity can then apply on the basis of those disclosures. You can't just apply a blanket indemnity. You to have explain to the families of the people who died or disappeared at the hands of the police what became of their loved ones.
"Our position is that you cannot form a new police service on the basis of certain people who have committed atrocities. We are saying that those who have committed atrocities must go ... Otherwise those who don't want to see democracy succeed will utilise those people for their own objectives."
Only when those who have committed atrocities] have been relieved will it be possible to "start building a new police service that will have the full confidence of our people".
Nelani agreed an important task is prison reform. "Ordinary people come out of jail hardened criminals because of the conditions inside. Prisons must be totally demilitarised ... We should have people who are trained in psychology, social science, in changing people's attitudes, not people who are trained along military lines in how to use firearms.
"People are not committing crimes because they want to commit crime, they are committing crimes because of conditions on the ground ... We don't want to see people staying in jail, we want them to contribute to building the economy and constructively building society."
POPCRU is being undermined by the activities of the right-wing South African Police Union, Nelani said. SAPU was formed in response to POPCRU by white police officers seeking to defend their privileged position. It has called for a blanket indemnity for all police who have committed crimes in defence of apartheid.
"SAPU organisers are claiming that SAPU and POPCRU have amalgamated. These organisers are moving around the country and saying that we and SAPU are working together and that it makes no difference which union they join. SAPU and POPCRU are different organisations. SAPU was formed, and the first thing they did was to oppose affirmative action and call for indemnity for police officers who have committed crimes. POPCRU was formed to fight to discrimination."